Rethinking Cultural Creativity and Tourism Resilience in the Post-Pandemic Era in Chinese Traditional Villages

Abstract

Traditional villages constitute rural systems with rich cultural heritage resources and the potential for tourism development. Improving resilience in the tourism industry in traditional villages in the post-pandemic era must be urgently reconsidered. This study focuses on the Chinese villages of Zhang Guying and Rebala in Hunan Province and uses a qualitative analysis method. Through in-depth study of two case villages, the study finds that traditional Chinese villages, especially tourist-oriented traditional villages, are more vulnerable to the impact of the epidemic than cities and other places. However, because of their unique traditional cultural connotations, traditional Chinese villages have the potential to enhance tourism resilience in the post-epidemic era through cultural excavation and cultural creative production. The embossed patterns, couplet stories, architecture and folk culture of traditional villages can be used for cultural and creative production. The production of digital products and physical cultural and creative products, and the formation of related industrial chains, will help improve the resilience of village tourism. The joint action of villages, attractiveness (scenic spots), production, social capital, government structure, and cultural creativity helps to transform “vulnerable individuals” into “ resilient industrial structures”. This research helps to reconsider whether the past tourism concepts (cultural creativity and creative tourism) have an effect on existing tourism destinations (especially Chinese traditional villages) in the context of the post-epidemic era, and whether they can be rejuvenated. Like other small organizational structures facing the threat of the epidemic, Chinese traditional villages have problems such as insufficient costs and reduced resource advantages. This study will focus on these issues to explore how cultural creativity can help improve existing problems and enhance tourism resilience.

How has rural tourism influenced the sustainable development of traditional villages? A systematic literature review

“…Traditional villages provide unique cultural traits that can enhance tourism resilience in the post-pandemic era by offering opportunities for cultural discovery and creative cultural outputs. “Vulnerable individuals” have the potential to transform into “resilient industrial structures” through the collaborative efforts of villages, government structure, attraction production, social capital, and cultural inventiveness [ 130 ]. It is crucial to exercise caution with the phenomenon known as ‘The Tourist Gaze’ when interacting with local residents.…”

“… Culture change induced by rural tourism NO. Year Sub- topic Explanation Research method Primary Data source 48 2016 [ 134 ] Commoditization of Culture The process of tourism-induced commodification of culture and its impact on traditional villages (Mixed) ethnographic fieldwork/participant observation/interviews Villagers 49 2016 [ 131 ] (Mixed) semi-structured interviews/questionnaire/chi-square test Residents 50 2008 [ 127 ] Culture heritage continuity Aimed to identify the cultural creativity potentials and the change of traditional village induced by tourism (Qual) case study 51 2016 [ 128 ] (Qual) interview/observation Village leader/natives 52 2021 [ 72 ] (Qual) in- deep interviews/observation/the ethnography/grounded theory Villagers 53 2022 [ 130 ] (Qual) in- depth interviews/Participatory and non-participatory observations Tour guides and managers/tourists/mayors/homestay operators/villagers 54 2023 [ 129 ] (Qual) interviews/observation Villagers 55 2023 [ 135 ] (Qual) Historical data analysis/field investigation 56 2022 [ 133 ] …”

“… [ 77 , 100 , 134 , 145 , 146 ] Restricted livelihood diversification Traditional production methods are abandoned, and highly dependent on tourism development. [ 10 , 32 , 34 , 73 , 77 , 90 , 113 , 114 , 116 , 119 , 120 , 124 , 125 , 130 , 152 , 156 ] Culture Loss of authenticity Development of tourism might harm the traditional village's internal culture and exterior appearance, Cultural distortion due to catering to tourists' interests. [ 32 , 72 , 108 , 110 , 112 , 118 , 127 , 129 , 131 , 132 , 138 , 139 , 157 , 158 ] Loss of rurality The “core-periphery” pattern of the spatial planning and centered around tourist's interests in rural tourism caused the loss of rurality [ 92 , 93 , 103 , 119 ] Loss of identity The newly constructed local identity initiated by tourism can undermine the preexisting identity of the village.…”

“…The introduction of innovative cultural tourism items can enhance the resilience of tourism development [ 130 ]. Nevertheless, it is crucial to acknowledge that profit-driven rural tourism frequently results in the commercialization of the cultural heritage [ 131 ].…”

Impact of COVID-19 on the Comprehensive Resilience of Rural Areas—A Case Study of Jilin Province of China

“…Owing to the complexity, vulnerability, and adaptability of rural regional systems, the resilience theory has been widely used in rural research. At first, rural resilience was mainly used to assess the resilience of villages after major disasters, such as financial crisis or pandemics [14][15][16][17][18][19][20]; however, resilience theory has gradually been introduced into research on rural development as a theoretical attempt to study rural sustainable development [21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. Chinese scholars have successfully integrated the two scientific issues, rural sustainable development and resilience.…”