Does tourism erode or prosper culture? Evidence from the Tibetan ethnic area of Sichuan Province, China

This paper examines the role of identity and cultural citizenship as cultural policy in tourism development in the Tibetan ethnic area of Sichuan Province, China. The findings indicate that the Tibetans are building different cultural identities in response to government cultural policies. In Guannei, they actively claim their rights to a share of tourism profits at the expense of their culture, while in Guanwai, they have constructed a multicultural identity not only for preserving culture, but also for developing it. The native Tibetans, therefore, are able to negotiate their identity based on their desire in contemporary society. The impact of tourism upon ethnic culture could be negative or positive and it depends on the identity of cultural citizenship. The paper explores the impact of tourism from a cultural citizenship perspective.