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A Review of Research on Ecotourism Poverty Alleviation in China

Kai Bai^1*, Huizhan Wang¹, Ruochen Wang², Hossen Saddam² and Lulu Pei^{3 *}Correspondence: Kai Bai, Department of Geography and Tourism, Shaanxi Normal University, Chang'an South, China, Email:

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Introduction

Since the implementation of China's poverty alleviation strategy, ecotourism has played an important role as a typical form of industrial poverty alleviation. This is due to the fact that most of China's poor regions are located in ethnic areas, old revolutionary areas and border areas, which are relatively backward in terms of socioeconomic development due to their remoteness, but also because they have been less affected by the impact of modern industrial civilization and therefore retain relatively good ecological resources and environments. In some of these poor areas, which have certain conditions and foundations for ecotourism development, there are natural advantages for implementing ecotourism poverty alleviation [1]. Since the late 1990's, when ecotourism poverty alleviation was introduced to a large number of poor areas in China, research on ecotourism poverty alleviation has been increasing, especially since the implementation of China's precise poverty alleviation strategy in 2013 with the successful completion of China's comprehensive poverty alleviation task by 2020, research on ecotourism poverty alleviation has entered a new stage [2]. Unlike the traditional poverty alleviation stage and the precise poverty alleviation stage, the post poverty alleviation stage will undergo a major shift in terms of research objects, research contents, research perspectives and research methods. In order to grasp the shift in ecotourism poverty alleviation research in the post poverty alleviation stage, it is necessary to clarify the current research situation of ecotourism poverty alleviation [3].

Literature Review

Data acquisition

In order to ensure the comprehensiveness and scholarship of the literature collection, this paper mainly searches the literature in the two sub databases of "academic journals" and "dissertations" on China knowledge network, with the search date being 31 October 2022 the search was conducted on the themes of 'ecotourism' and 'poverty alleviation' and yielded 433 journal articles and 149 dissertations [4]. Then we selected 91 journal articles and 9 dissertations closely related to the research topic of this paper by reading the literature. In addition, we have made appropriate reference to newspapers, writings and electronic literature. Finally, we identified the 44 documents needed for this paper through close reading.

Research stages and characteristics

Based on China's long standing poverty alleviation practices and the timing of the release of major strategies on poverty alleviation at the national level, China's poverty alleviation practices can be roughly divided into three stages, namely the traditional poverty alleviation stage, the precise poverty alleviation stage, and the post poverty alleviation stage [5]. Accordingly, China's tourism poverty alleviation practice can also be roughly divided into the traditional tourism poverty alleviation stage, the tourism precise poverty alleviation stage, and the post tourism poverty alleviation stage. Corresponding to these three stages, ecotourism poverty alleviation shows different characteristics in terms of research objects, research focus, research perspectives and research methods.

Characteristics of ecotourism poverty alleviation research in the traditional tourism poverty alleviation stage

The period from the late 1990's to 2012 can be regarded as the traditional tourism poverty alleviation stage, based on the practice of carrying out crude tourism poverty alleviation in China and the time when the strategy of precise poverty alleviation was proposed. During this period, ecotourism poverty alleviation research tended to focus on poverty stricken areas at the macro level; it focused on the models, paths and effects of ecotourism poverty alleviation, emphasising the contribution of ecotourism poverty alleviation to the overall economy of poverty stricken areas; research perspectives were mostly based on tourism, ecology, economics and other disciplines as entry points; and research methods were mainly qualitative. The research methods are mainly qualitative, supplemented by a small amount of quantitative research [6].

Characteristics of ecotourism poverty alleviation research in the tourism precise poverty alleviation stage

In November 2013, Chinese president Xi Jinping first proposed the important idea of "precise poverty alleviation" during a visit to Hunan province, marking the transition from the rough and tumble poverty alleviation stage to the precise poverty alleviation stage in China. From 2013 until the end of 2020, this is the stage of precise poverty alleviation [7]. In this stage, the research on ecotourism poverty alleviation gradually shifts from the macro level poverty areas to the micro level poverty population; it focuses on tourism employment and income generation for the poor, emphasizing not only the economic effects of ecotourism poverty alleviation, but also the social and ecological effects of ecotourism poverty alleviation; the research perspectives are more diversified, with more and more studies based on sociological and anthropological perspectives; the research method is both qualitative and quantitative, emphasizing both the induction and deduction of ecotourism tourism poverty alleviation theories, and the empirical testing of tourism poverty alleviation practices [8].

Characteristics of ecotourism poverty alleviation research in the post-tourism poverty alleviation stage

At the end of 2020, China successfully completed the task of eradicating poverty across the board, but due to the complexity, long term nature and regeneration of poverty, the risk of some poor people returning to poverty still exists. In order to consolidate and expand the results of poverty eradication and achieve an effective linkage with rural revitalization, Document No. 1 of the central government in 2021 explicitly proposed a five year transition period from the date of poverty eradication for counties that have escaped poverty [9]. According to this major national strategy, the transitional period for bridging poverty eradication and rural revitalization can be defined as the post poverty alleviation phase. At the beginning of this phase, due to the complexity of the composition of the relatively poor population, the research object of ecotourism poverty alleviation has not yet undergone an obvious transformation; at present, relevant studies have begun to focus on the articulation between ecotourism poverty alleviation and ecotourism assisted rural revitalization; research perspectives and methods have also become increasingly diverse [10].

Research content

The research on ecotourism poverty alleviation in China mainly covers the relationship between ecotourism and poverty alleviation, the concept, model, mechanism, path and effect of ecotourism poverty alleviation. Among them, identifying the relationship between ecotourism and poverty alleviation is the logical starting point of ecotourism poverty alleviation research; clarifying the concept, model and mechanism of ecotourism poverty alleviation is the theoretical basis of ecotourism poverty alleviation research; defining the path of ecotourism poverty alleviation is the practical guide of ecotourism poverty alleviation research; and clarifying the effect of ecotourism poverty alleviation is the purpose and significance of ecotourism poverty alleviation research [11].

The relationship between ecotourism and poverty alleviation

From the existing literature, earlier studies on ecotourism and tourism poverty alleviation in China have appeared in the early 1990's, while studies on the relationship between ecotourism and poverty alleviation have appeared in the late 1990's. Tang shuntie was the first to discuss the relationship between ecotourism and poverty alleviation, arguing that tourism is a pioneering industry with low input, high output, wide impact and large benefits, and that in poor areas with rich ecotourism resources, ecotourism is the preferred industry for poverty alleviation [12]. Ma Zhongyu also argues that the advantages of tourism in poverty alleviation are unparalleled in any other industry, and that the distribution of poor counties in China overlaps highly with the distribution of high quality ecotourism resources, so that the most effective way to eliminate poverty is to combine tourism development with poverty alleviation. It is easy to see that early related studies focused on the positive role of ecotourism in poverty alleviation. With the promotion of tourism poverty alleviation, some scholars began to analyze the relationship between ecotourism and poverty alleviation in a more dialectical manner [13].

Wu Zhengqiang, et al., argue that the richness of tourism resources in the Western region coexists with the fragility of the ecological environment, and that the establishment of a compensation mechanism for the value of the ecological environment can help promote tourism poverty alleviation in the western region. Qiu Yunmei argues that socio ecological environment and tourism development, if not effectively coordinated, will inevitably bring negative effects such as ecological damage and deterioration of the living environment of residents. With the arrival of the stage of precise poverty alleviation, the important role of ecotourism in precise poverty alleviation has been widely recognised, because ecotourism and precise poverty alleviation are complementary and mutually supportive, and there is a close coupling between rural ecotourism development and precise poverty alleviation in terms of time, space, subject (object) and target, and with the policy of precise poverty alleviation strong promotion, the coupling and coordination between ecotourism and precise poverty alleviation will become better and better [14].

To sum up, there is a high degree of spatial overlap between China's poor areas and areas with excellent ecological resources and environment, which have natural advantages for developing ecotourism and implementing tourism poverty alleviation. However, in the process of poverty alleviation through ecotourism, it is important to fully recognize the fragility of the ecological environment and to put into practice the development concept of "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets", and to strictly control the scale of tourism development within the capacity of the local ecological environment, so as to achieve sustainable development of ecotourism, and the local ecotourism practice of poverty alleviation can be continuously promoted [15].

Discussion

Concept of ecotourism poverty alleviation

Because ecotourism poverty alleviation is a type of tourism poverty alleviation, its concept is derived from the concept of tourism poverty alleviation. Early researchers considered tourism to be a regional economic development model that would lead to economic development in poor areas and the removal of poor residents from poverty. However, this view was subsequently challenged by some scholars, as the economic development of poor areas is not the same as the poverty alleviation of poor residents, and the core issue of tourism poverty alleviation is how poor residents can benefit from tourism development and increase their development opportunities. In particular, with the development of precise tourism poverty alleviation practices, the concept of tourism poverty alleviation has become increasingly focused on the objective of poverty alleviation and development for the poor. Influenced by the evolution of the concept of tourism poverty alleviation, the concept of ecotourism poverty alleviation has also undergone a process from focusing on the economic development of poor areas to emphasizing the benefits to the poor population, and paying extra attention to the protection of the ecological environment while alleviating poverty, which is in essence a kind of sustainable tourism poverty alleviation [16].

In summary, the concept of ecotourism poverty alleviation has both the core meaning of the concept of tourism poverty alleviation, i.e. to drive the economic and social development of poor areas through the development of tourism, so as to achieve poverty alleviation and enrichment of the poor population; but also has its own qualities, i.e. solving the local poverty problem should go hand in hand with the protection of local ecological resources, and the poor population can get out of poverty both economically and ideologically through participation in ecotourism development.

Models of ecotourism poverty alleviation

Ecotourism poverty alleviation is one of many poverty alleviation models in poor areas. As the objectives of ecotourism and tourism poverty alleviation are highly consistent, ecotourism development is the best development model for local tourism poverty alleviation in poor areas with certain ecotourism resource advantages. Usually, tourism poverty alleviation models can be divided into blood transfusion, blood creation, blood supplementation, mixed blood and blood exchange poverty alleviation models, and ecotourism poverty alleviation belongs to the typical blood creation tourism poverty alleviation model; From the perspective of stakeholders, the development of rural ecotourism is closely related to the government, companies and poor villagers, etc. Therefore, a multi body interaction model of "company+government+villagers" should be adopted to promote the realization of the goal of precise poverty alleviation under the "company operation", "government guidance" and "villagers' participation". From the perspective of industrial integration, the development model of "agriculture+culture+ecological tourism" is conducive to the deep integration of rural ecological agriculture, tourism and cultural industries, and to the poverty alleviation and revitalization of the countryside [17].

In summary, although ecotourism poverty alleviation is an important mode of tourism poverty alleviation, its effect on poverty alleviation is relatively limited by the development of ecotourism alone. On the one hand, it is necessary to strengthen the full participation and interaction between the government of poor areas, poverty alleviation enterprises and poor residents, and on the other hand, it is necessary to strengthen the integration between the advantageous industries of agriculture, ecotourism and cultural industries in poor areas, and only in this way can the blood making function of ecotourism poverty alleviation be truly brought into play.

Mechanisms of ecotourism poverty alleviation

Research on the mechanisms of ecotourism poverty alleviation in China is relatively comprehensive and systematic, mainly involving synergistic mechanisms, motivational mechanisms, compensation mechanisms and regulatory mechanisms. Among them, the establishment of a multifaceted synergistic mechanism of "government led, market led, sectoral linkage and national tourism development" is the premise and foundation for the smooth implementation of ecotourism poverty alleviation practices, while the clarification of the dynamics of ecotourism poverty alleviation is conducive to the realization of the synergistic mechanism of ecotourism poverty alleviation. He Xing et al. took the ecotourism resource rich Qinba mountainous region as the research object and constructed a tourism precise poverty alleviation driving mechanism based on stakeholder theory, namely, government leadership guiding behaviour driving, tourism enterprises economic helping behaviour driving, poor subjects participation behaviour driving and tourists ecotourism behavior driving [18].

In addition, given the fragility of ecotourism resources and the environment, a diversified ecological compensation mechanism should be established to give community residents the right to participate in ecotourism in a substantive way. At the same time, a tourism market monitoring mechanism should be established that includes "departmental regulation+industry supervision +enterprise self regulation" to ensure that ecotourism "helps the real poor and really helps the poor".

In summary, the operation of ecotourism poverty alleviation practices requires the multifaceted collaboration of local governments, poverty alleviation enterprises, poor residents, NGOs and other stakeholders to give full play to their respective advantages and roles in ecotourism poverty alleviation, especially the opportunities and rights of poor residents to participate in ecotourism poverty alleviation, and to strictly monitor the process and effects of ecotourism poverty alleviation. Only the coordinated operation and positive interaction of various mechanisms can ensure the smooth implementation of ecotourism practices to alleviate poverty.

Paths of ecotourism poverty alleviation

How to implement ecotourism to alleviate poverty is a hot topic in ecotourism poverty alleviation research, and relevant studies have proposed paths for ecotourism poverty alleviation based on different perspectives. Based on the coupling mechanism between rural ecotourism and precise poverty alleviation, Hu proposed a linkage path between rural ecotourism and precise poverty alleviation from the perspective of precise poverty alleviation, specifically including precise identification of ecotourism poverty alleviation targets, precise planning of ecotourism poverty alleviation projects, precise development of ecotourism poverty alleviation project construction, and precise implementation of ecological protection measures. Based on the perspective of ecological anthropology, Chen Huiping explored the logic of action and the generation of dilemmas in carrying out ecotourism poverty alleviation in ethnic areas [19].

On this basis, she proposed a path to realize ecotourism poverty alleviation, which specifically includes strengthening the institutional construction of ecotourism poverty alleviation, building an industrial pattern of differentiated interactive development and improving the mechanism of linking the interests of poor households with ecotourism. With the completion of China's precise poverty eradication task and the implementation of the rural revitalisation strategy, some scholars have proposed a path to realize ecotourism poverty alleviation and rural revitalisation in ethnic minority areas based on the perspective of linking precise poverty alleviation and rural revitalization, specifically including: Realizing an efficient docking of ecotourism and precise poverty alleviation policies, constructing an "ecology+" strategy, improving the beneficiary mechanism of ecotourism poverty alleviation, enriching ecotourism funding sources in ethnic minority areas, building and implementing green poverty alleviation incentives and tourism ecological environment compensation mechanisms, etc. In summary, the realization path of ecotourism poverty alleviation has both the common features of the tourism poverty alleviation path, i.e. through community participation in ecotourism projects, improving the beneficiary mechanism of ecotourism poverty alleviation and promoting the socio economic development of poor areas and poverty alleviation; it also has its characteristics, i.e. ecological protection measures should be strictly implemented and sustainable development of ecotourism poverty alleviation should be achieved through mechanisms such as tourism ecological environment compensation [20].

Effect of ecotourism poverty alleviation

The evaluation of ecotourism poverty alleviation effect is a hot topic in ecotourism poverty alleviation research, in which the scientific measurement of ecotourism poverty alleviation effect from which aspects and how to measure ecotourism poverty alleviation effect are the focus of ecotourism poverty alleviation effect research. Hao Bingbing et al., found that by combing through the literature on the effect of tourism on poverty alleviation outside China from 2000 to 2016, the relevant studies were mainly conducted from two perspectives: Evaluation objects and evaluation effects. From the evaluation object, it mainly includes the analysis of macro effects of tourism poverty alleviation for the region and the analysis of micro effects of tourism poverty alleviation for the poor population; from the evaluation effect, it mainly includes the positive and negative effects of tourism poverty alleviation. The study of the effects of ecotourism on poverty alleviation also has this characteristic.

In the traditional tourism poverty alleviation stage, research on the effects of ecotourism poverty alleviation mainly focused on macro level economic, social, cultural and ecological effects, for example, Qiao Bo et al., found that community participation based ecological agro tourism has obvious comprehensive poverty alleviation effects, in addition to the more significant economic utility in increasing farmers' income and optimizing income structure, the poverty alleviation effects on the environment are also more prominent. With the implementation of the precise poverty alleviation strategy, the object of ecotourism poverty alleviation research has gradually shifted to the poor population, focusing on the micro effects of ecotourism poverty alleviation, for example. Qiu Shouming et al, found through empirical research that ecotourism can effectively increase the income of farm households, and its poverty alleviation effect is very significant. However, it should be noted that there are two sides to everything. While ecotourism poverty alleviation has positive effects in terms of promoting economic and social development in poor areas, promoting employment of the poor and increasing the income of the poor, if ecotourism resources in poor areas are over exploited, it may also lead to negative effects such as ecological environment destruction and unsustainable ecotourism. In terms of how to measure the effect of ecotourism on poverty alleviation, the key lies in the construction of an evaluation index system for the effect of ecotourism on poverty alleviation. Based on the principles of comprehensiveness, systematicness, scientificity, operability, quantifiability and dynamism. Luo Shengfeng et al., constructed an ecotourism poverty alleviation performance evaluation system that includes three first level indicators: Objective performance, perceived performance and potential performance, and evaluated the poverty alleviation performance of three ecotourism scenic areas in the Yunnan- Guizhou-Qianxi stone desertification concentrated contiguous special hardship area. Based on the principles of availability, comprehensiveness and operability of data in the study area.

Wang Xinmin et al., constructed an ecotourism poverty alleviation performance evaluation index system including three subsystems of ecological, economic and social performance, and evaluated the ecotourism precise poverty alleviation performance in the Taihang special hardship area in shanxi province. Based on the goal of multidimensional poverty reduction and stable poverty eradication. Jiang Li et al., constructed an evaluation index system for tourism poverty reduction efficiency from the multidimensional perspectives of economy, human, culture and medical care, measured the tourism poverty reduction efficiency values of 21 poverty eradicated counties in Luoxiao mountain area from 2014 to 2020 using the super efficiency SBM model, and used ESDA spatial data analysis method to reveal the evolution characteristics of the spatial and temporal patterns of tourism poverty reduction efficiency in the area.

In summary, ecotourism poverty alleviation has the dual effect of poverty alleviation and ecological protection. Existing studies generally recognize the macro effects and positive effects of ecotourism poverty alleviation, but the micro effects and negative effects of ecotourism are relatively under researched. In terms of the construction of an ecotourism poverty alleviation performance evaluation system, the existing evaluation index system is comprehensive and systematic, but not targeted enough, and some evaluation indexes may be the effect of local tourism development rather than the effect of ecotourism poverty alleviation, so how to strip the effect of ecotourism poverty alleviation faces the double problem of theoretical definition and practical operation.

Research trends

By the end of 2020, with the historic resolution of the problem of absolute poverty under current standards, the focus of poverty alleviation work will shift from solving absolute poverty to alleviating relative poverty and the focus of work on "issues concerning agriculture, countryside and farmers" will shift from consolidating and expanding the results of poverty eradication to comprehensively promoting rural revitalization. In this context, the future practice of poverty alleviation will become more complex and difficult. In particular, in the practice of ecotourism poverty alleviation, the sensitivity and vulnerability of ecotourism, as well as the low level participation of most poor residents in ecotourism at the stage of precise poverty alleviation, lead to a significant proportion of residents who have been lifted out of poverty through ecotourism facing a greater risk of returning to poverty in the post-poverty alleviation stage.

Especially in the context of the normalisation of the prevention and control of the new crown epidemic, large scale international and inter provincial tourist movements may be difficult to achieve for a considerable period of time in the future due to political and policy uncertainties, making the sustainable development of rural ecotourism a huge challenge. Therefore, in some villages that have achieved poverty alleviation through the development of ecotourism, how to consolidate the results of ecotourism poverty alleviation, solve the problem of relative poverty, and then gradually realize the comprehensive revitalization of villages has become a difficult task for the 14th Five-year plan and even for a longer period of time in the future. The solution of these problems and tasks urgently requires the follow up and transformation of ecotourism poverty alleviation research in terms of research objects, research contents, research perspectives and research methods.

Research turn in object

In the stage of tourism precision poverty alleviation, the target of ecotourism poverty alleviation is the absolute poverty residents in poor areas with certain ecotourism foundation and conditions, and its identification criteria are mainly based on the current national poverty line. In the post tourism poverty alleviation stage, compared with absolute poverty, relative poverty has the characteristics of relativity, diversity and concealment, which is difficult to identify and balance, but also easy to grow and regenerate. Therefore, the criteria for identifying relatively poor residents are more complex.

According to the characteristics of ecotourism poverty alleviation, the targets of ecotourism poverty alleviation in the post poverty alleviation stage include at least the following three categories of relatively poor residents. The first category is poor residents who participated in ecotourism poverty alleviation at a low level during the tourism precision poverty alleviation stage, such as sellers of tourism local products, farm caravans and helpers, etc. Although they have achieved poverty alleviation, their income is somewhat unstable due to the off season and sensitivity of tourism, etc. Once they encounter major natural disasters or public safety and health events, they are very likely to return to poverty again. In the five year transition period between consolidating and expanding the results of poverty eradication and rural revitalisation, this group of residents who are at greater risk of returning to poverty should be the focus of ecotourism poverty alleviation research.

The second category is for poor residents who enjoy ecological compensation policies during the tourism precision poverty alleviation stage, such as ecological environment builders, ecological migrants, ecological protection posts (e.g. forest rangers) and cleaners, etc. Although the income of such residents who have escaped poverty is relatively stable, their income is relatively low, such as in the document "explanation on ecological protection posts and policy subsidies in the whole region" issued by the people's government of Murdoch county in the Tibet autonomous region in February 2017 stipulates that the uniform standard of full time subsidy for ecological protection posts across the region is 3,000 yuan/person years. In the context of the possible moderate upward adjustment of the current national poverty line standard in the post poverty alleviation stage, this part of the residents who have escaped poverty should also become the main object of attention in the study of ecotourism poverty alleviation.

The third category is the marginal group of residents who are not classified as poor in the tourism precision poverty alleviation stage, but whose income is not much higher than the national poverty line standard. Not only are these residents less likely to benefit from the various government policies on ecotourism poverty alleviation at all levels, but they may also be disadvantaged in the normal competition with poor local residents for participation in ecotourism development due to the priority given to poor residents. In the post tourism poverty alleviation stage, these marginal 'non-poor residents' should also become the main focus of ecotourism poverty alleviation research.

Research turn in content

In February 2021, Chinese president Xi Jinping stressed at the national conference on summing up and commending the poverty eradication efforts that the work of consolidating and expanding the achievements of poverty eradication and rural revitalization should be done effectively, so as to make the foundation of poverty eradication more solid and the results more sustainable. In this context, the content of research on ecotourism poverty alleviation in the post poverty alleviation stage should be shifted from a single focus on poverty alleviation research to a study on the convergence of consolidating the results of poverty eradication and rural revitalization.

Specifically, in terms of ecotourism poverty alleviation models, we should strengthen the research on the "community led" model of ecotourism development, clarify the similarities and differences between the "government led" and "community led" ecotourism development models, and clarify the evolutionary logic of shifting from the "government-led model" to the "community led model". In terms of the ecotourism poverty alleviation mechanism, we should strengthen the research on the multi faceted synergistic mechanism of ecotourism poverty alleviation, and try to build a dynamic mechanism that links internal and external dynamics, a scientific and reasonable ecological compensation mechanism, and a strict and rigorous ecological compensation mechanism.

In terms of the ecotourism poverty alleviation mechanism, we should strengthen the research on the coupling principle and articulation path between ecotourism poverty alleviation and ecotourism for rural revitalization in terms of "industry, talent, culture, ecology and organization"; In terms of the effects of ecotourism on poverty alleviation, the research on the comprehensive effects of ecotourism on poverty alleviation should be strengthened, including the economic effects of ecotourism on raising the economic income and living standard of the relatively poor population, the social effects on increasing the relatively poor population's right to participate in tourism and tourism employment opportunities, the cultural effects on preserving, inheriting and developing the traditional culture of the poverty stricken areas, and the ecological effects on improving the ecological environment of the poverty stricken areas.

Research turn in perspective

In the post poverty alleviation stage, the targets of ecotourism poverty alleviation are more diverse and the problems faced are more complex and arduous. It is not only necessary to lift the relatively poor out of poverty both materially and spiritually, but also to be able to fundamentally stimulate the endogenous motivation of the residents out of poverty to participate in ecotourism development and enhance the self development ability of the residents out of poverty to participate in ecotourism; it is also necessary to consolidate and expand the achievements of ecotourism poverty alleviation and to achieve the It is necessary to consolidate and expand the achievements of ecotourism in poverty alleviation, but also to achieve effective connection with rural revitalization.

As rural revitalization means the comprehensive revitalization of rural industries, ecology, culture, organization and talents, the study of the interface between ecotourism poverty alleviation and rural revitalization may involve theories and methods from tourism, economics, ecology, culture, sociology, political science, anthropology, management, demography and other disciplines. Therefore, the research perspective of ecotourism poverty alleviation in the post poverty alleviation stage should also be multi dimensional. In addition to strengthening research from the perspectives of sociology, ecology and anthropology, it is also necessary to actively experiment with research from the perspectives of culture, political science and education, while focusing on multidisciplinary cross research, so as to more comprehensively and deeply understand and solve the problems of ecotourism poverty alleviation and the interface between ecotourism poverty alleviation and rural revitalization.

Research turn in methodology

In the post poverty alleviation stage, with the multi dimensional perspective of ecotourism poverty alleviation research, research methods will also be increasingly enriched. From a systemic perspective, the systematic research on the interface between ecotourism poverty alleviation and rural revitalization in post poverty areas should be strengthened; from a spatial perspective, the horizontal comparative study of different post poverty areas should be strengthened; from a temporal perspective, the vertical chronological study of different poverty alleviation stages in the same area should be strengthened; From the perspective of disciplines, we should continue to strengthen the application of theories and methods from disciplines such as economics and statistics in the study of the effects of ecotourism on poverty alleviation, strengthen the application of theories and methods from disciplines such as ecology and tourism in the sustainable development of ecotourism, strengthen the application of theories and methods from disciplines such as sociology and political science in rural governance, strengthen the application of theories and methods from disciplines such as demography, anthropology, education and management in improving the quality of human resources in poverty alleviation areas, and strengthen the application of theories and methods from disciplines such as history and culture in the transmission and development of culture in poverty alleviation areas.

Conclusion

At the end of 2020, with the full completion of the task of poverty eradication, China's poverty alleviation strategy gradually shifts from absolute poverty governance to relative poverty governance. Ecotourism poverty alleviation, as a typical form of tourism poverty alleviation, has played an important role in china's poverty alleviation strategy. Summarizing the current situation of ecotourism poverty alleviation research in China and looking forward to the shift in ecotourism poverty alleviation research can provide useful insights for future ecotourism poverty alleviation research and practice.

According to the changes in major national poverty alleviation strategies since the implementation of tourism poverty alleviation practices in China, tourism poverty alleviation practices can be divided into three stages: Traditional tourism poverty alleviation, tourism precision poverty alleviation and post tourism poverty alleviation. The research on ecotourism poverty alleviation mainly covers the relationship between ecotourism and poverty alleviation, the concept, model, mechanism, path and effect of ecotourism poverty alleviation, and so on. In this regard, the object of research has shifted from absolute poverty to relative poverty; the content of research has shifted from a single focus on poverty alleviation to a study on the convergence of consolidating the achievements of poverty alleviation and rural revitalization; the perspective of research has become more multi dimensional; and the research methods have become increasingly rich.

Acknowledgement

This research was supported by the national social science foundation of China, western China (Number 16XGL008, 20XJY018), the national natural science foundation of china (Number 42071186), the China postdoctoral science foundation project (Number 2017M623097), the soft science research program project of the Shaanxi provincial department of science and technology (Number 2018KRM056), the research project on major theoretical and practical issues in social sciences of Shaanxi province (Number 2018Z076), the research project on culture, art and tourism of the ministry of culture and tourism (Number 19DY14), the research project on major theoretical and realistic issues in philosophy and social sciences of Shaanxi province (Number 2021ND0237), Shaanxi provincial decision making advisory committee research project, Xi'an social science planning fund project (Number JG216), and the project on the prosperity of philosophy and social sciences of Xi’an university of science and technology (Number 2020SZ01).

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