Assessing Eco-Tourism in Development Policy: Challenges in Evaluating Long-Term Impact and Sustainability

This blog shares insights from my case study on an eco-tourism program by the China Foundation for Rural Development (formerly the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation). Launched in 2013, the program spans 38 villages across 16 provinces, aiming to transform impoverished communities by integrating eco-tourism with local economic development. Through structured village planning, heritage renovation, and environmental restoration, the program fosters rural revitalisation by promoting entrepreneurship, engaging cooperatives in decision-making, and implementing profit-sharing mechanisms.

In this blog, I reflect on the program's effectiveness, the role of evaluation in shaping its development and expansion, and the challenges of assessing long-term impact. In many rural contexts, evaluation is often based on numeric change or word of mouth rather than systematic comparison and analysis. I explore how this perception affects program assessment and discuss the implications for future development policies.

This blog is currently under review and will be published soon—stay tuned!