Research on Tourism Innovation in Ethnic Minority Villages: With A Case of Minzu Village of Guizhou Province in China

Abstract: Innovation is one of the main positive driving forces to promote social development. The Rural Revitalization is a major strategy of China, which aims to strengthen agriculture, benefit farmers, and raise rural living standards. China has a large number of ethnic minority villages, many of which are with beautiful natural resources and rich traditional culture, but they have not been properly developed and utilized in some villages. Developing tourism in these areas is one of the main means to promote the Rural Revitalization Strategy and achieve the whole national prosperity in China. In the process of fieldwork to more than 30 tourism villages, the authors found that many villages are developing very fast because of the tourism industry, but they are also facing some problems. In particular, many of them have common problems, such as with single tourism products and the phenomenon of homogenization. They are facing the urgent requirements of the transformation and upgrading of rural tourism products, and innovation has become the key link to change the situation and solve the problem. In addition, the author also found very positive cases of tourism innovation of ethnic minority villages in China, such as Minzu Village in Guizhou, China. The authors adopted methods of observation and in-depth interview to understand deeply and analyze the elements and mechanism of tourism innovation of this village. It is found that heredity, variation and synergy are key factors in the tourism innovation of ethnic minority villages. In addition, core talents and emphasis on the uniqueness of products also play important roles. This study will not only guide prospective researchers in analyzing the relationship between innovation and tourism, but also enable those committed to developing rural tourism practices to understand the key issues.

Key words: ethnic minority villages in China; tourism innovation; Minzu village

JEL code: Z3