An assessment of the livelihood resilience of tourism smallholders in the upper reaches of Yihe River, China

ABSTRACT Using data from 524 households in the upper reaches of the Yihe River, China, a tourism livelihood resilience index (TLRI) was developed to explore the correlation between livelihood resilience and strategies of tourism smallholders. The smallholders were grouped into four categories: tourism oriented (TO), tourism and part-time migration work (TPM), migration work and part-time tourism (MPT) and migration work-oriented (MO). The TLRI revealed notable differences among these groups, with MPT smallholders demonstrating the lowest resilience (0.287) due to a weak buffer capacity (0.242). In contrast, MO smallholders displayed high resilience, as they were able to become successful professional tourism operators. Interestingly, households with low-diversity livelihoods (e.g. MO and TO) had higher resilience than those with high diversity (MPT and TPM). Regression findings showed that increased buffer capacity, self-organisation capacity and community protective capacity tend to motivate smallholders to engage in tourism intensification activities, while learning capacity had no measurable impact. Based on these results, three suggestions have been presented for improving the livelihood resilience of tourism smallholders. The conceptualisation of the TLRI enhances our understanding of the livelihood resilience of tourism smallholders in China and provides insights into the household operation system in tourism-guided rural transition.