The Formation Mechanism and Trends of Rural Green Tourism Economy Driven by Community Endogenous Power: A Case Study of Azheke Village, Yunnan, China
Received: 2026-05-30
Published: 2026-06-06
Abstract
The imbalance between ecological protection and economic development is a prominent challenge for the green transformation of rural areas in ecologically fragile zones and cultural heritage sites. Existing research on green economy largely focuses on macro-level policies, with insufficient exploration of micro-level community practices and endogenous development logics. Taking Azheke Village in Yunnan as a case study, this paper employs a single-case in-depth research method to investigate the formation mechanism and evolutionary trends of rural green tourism economy driven by community endogenous power. The findings reveal that, relying on a government-enterprise-university collaborative model and based on tourism attraction property rights, Azheke Village has innovatively established a linked system of “tiered dividends and rigid constraints,” deeply integrating ecological conservation, cultural inheritance, and villager income growth. At the same time, by leveraging dual heritage resources, the village has developed diversified and differentiated cultural tourism products, forming a community-led, rights-responsibilities unified green tourism development model. This model exhibits three major transformational trends: development drivers shifting from external financial subsidies to endogenous incentives; development actors shifting from external capital domination to community endogenous leadership; and operational models shifting from short-term project-based operations to long-term institutionalized management. This study provides a practical paradigm and theoretical reference for green tourism development in heritage sites and ecologically fragile rural areas.
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