SEPARATION AND INTEGRATION: TENSION AND NEGOTIATION AMONG STAKEHOLDERS REGARDING THE TOURISM PLANNING OF THE KANAS SCENIC AREA, XINJIANG, CHINA
ZHANG Ling-yun1, YANG Jing-jing2
1. Institute of Tourism, Beijing Union University, Beijing 100101, China;
2. Management School, New Zealand University of Waikato, Hamilton 3240, New Zealand
Abstract The research examines the tensions between stakeholders(governments, tourism entrepreneurs, local ethnic minorities and tourists) in relation to the tourism development plans of the Kanas Scenic Area, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. Based on the discussion of the tensions, a series of suggestions for tourism development plans, including the procedural and substantial justice, are discussed. The separation of tourism areas and local residential areas proposed in Xinjiang Kanas's tourism development plans aims to divide different functional regions. Meanwhile, it leads to the tensions between stakeholders in the implementation process. Planners' ethics and values in planning process are addressed. Tourism planning serves various purposes for infrastructure and planning projects and institutional arrangements, leading to negotiations among different stakeholders. Governments' interests are often fully considered in the plans; while locals' demands are not. In some minority areas of China, minority people are usually marginalized or disadvantaged economically and politically because they have limited control over tourism resources and activities. The perspectives of multiple stakeholders should be taken into account so as to achieve balance among the conflicting interests of stakeholders. All stakeholders should have a voice in tourism planning in order to ensure understanding and to solicit broad support for the implementation of the plans. Planners require paying more attention to the consequences of tourism planning and development. Tourism development planning brings a re-distribution of interests between the stakeholders with resultant tensions. Within the broader context of a call for political reforms and a harmonious society, the Kaldor-Hicks efficiency model is recommended. Planners should regard planning as a dynamic and continuous process, following up the plan implementation with monitoring, and adjust the plans when necessary. Procedural justice and stakeholder equality need to be addressed in tourism planning.
2012, Vol. 27 
