Tourism Development Of Dali Cangshan World Geopark And Research On "Park Re - Evaluation"

The sustainable development of Global Geopark has been studied on many aspects by scholars at home and abroad. The research results offer guiding significance for the sustainable development. However, there are few studies targeted on the revalidation of global geopark, and few studies on the sustainable development of global geopark based on the content of the periodical review.The UNESCO GGN Bureau has a periodical revalidation for every Global Geopark member every four years since it became a GGN member. According to the results of the revalidation, those Global Geoparks that failed to meet the criteria of the Global Geopark will be warned and requested to remedy within a given period, or even be delisted from the GGN. During the past revalidations, some Global Geoparks in China received "yellow card" from the GGN Bureau because of inadequate geological interpretation, etc.On Sept.23,2014, Dali Cangshan Geopark was designated as a Global Geopark,the first periodical revalidation will come in four years.Dali Cangshan Geopark is located in Dali Prefecture, at the junction of Dali City, Yangbi and Eryuan County, and the bulk of the park in Dali city. The area of the Geopark, based on the Global Geopark experts’evaluation, is enlarged from the original 519.9km2 to 933km2, consisting of three parts, i.e. Cangshan protected area, social and economic development area, and Erhai Lake ecological area, as a whole, the geopark presenting "a mountain, a water, and a basin" pattern, it is therefore an integrated geopark encompassing geological heritage, landscape, biodiversity as well as national culture.Dali Cangshan Geopark contains rich geosites, including geological landscape, typical geological phenomena, and relics of geological hazard, which can be grouped into three major categories, nine categories, and 17 sub-categories.Dali features exceptional rich historical and cultural heritages, within the park, there are 6 national,8 provincial,5 prefectural, and 10 municipal cultural heritages, also,25 intangible cultural heritages have been designated.In this paper, the development of Dali Cangshan Geopark has been studied based on the IFE and IFE matrix analysis, and furthermore, based on the specific content of the Geopark Revalidation Table and in relation to the status quo of Cangshan geopark, with reference to the experiences of geopark management and the proposals made by the GGN experts the high priority items of the Dali Cangshan Geopark have been proposed. In addition, this paper can provides a reference for other Global Geopark on revalidation, protection and management.This paper consists of following seven chapters:Chapter one is about the background of the global geopark. This part mainly introduces the purpose and significance of the establishment of Global Geopark, the Global Geopark in China and the research at home and abroad.Chapter two deals with the general situation of Dali Cangshan Global Geopark. This part mainly introduces the history of the park, its physical geography, geology, geological relics, biological and ecological features, natural landscape, human history, cultural heritage, etc.Chapter three analyzes the internal factors and external factors of the Cangshan Geopark tourism development based on IFE and EFE matrix.Chapter four, five, six are key parts of the paper:Chapter four is a key and innovative part of this paper, it is the first time to interpret and analyze in detail the content of the revalidation table for the Global Geopark. The revalidation table consists of six parts, and each part is assigned with different weight. i.e.1.Contribution towards the work of the Network.2. Management structure and Financial status.3.Conservation (geoconservation) strategy.4.Strategic partnerships. 5.Marketing and promotional activities after the official designation as a member of the Global Geoparks Network.6. Sustainable economic development.Chapter five focuses on the sustainable development of Cangshan Geopark based on Periodical Review index.Chapter six discusses the protection and management priorities of the Cangshan Geopark based on the current situation, the proposals of the GGN experts,the experience of the geopark management, and the six major parts of the revalidation. Chapter seven is the conclusion of this paper, mainly centered on the management priorities of the Cangshan geopark.There are still some issues in the tourism development of Dali Cangshan Global Geopark, such as inadequate tourist facilities, imbalance of development, lack of unified management, lack of integrated planning, lack of well-defined geotourism, limited popular science education, lack of participation of local communities and residents in decision-making, tourism planning and park management and so on. At the same time, the external condition is facing environmental pressure and fierce competition from the rapid development of tourism in the surrounding areas, as well as the low willingness of the tourists for geotourism.In the next three years, the internal work of the Dali Cangshan Global Geopark include not only the improvement of the tourism facilities, the intensification of the management of tourism resources, the development of balanced, coordinated and management, the development of integrated planning, the promotion of cultural and service quality of the management staff, but also the improvement of the transport infrastructure, the strengthening of the protection and monitoring of the geological and ecological environments. Meanwhile, the external work of the geopark is to actively participate in various GGN international meetings and activities, pay more attention to public communication, better maintain and update the park’s website, strengthen the publicity work, attach importance to substantial exchanges and cooperation with other organizations and members of the GGN.