Ice and snow tourism in China's ecological civilization era: The Altay, Xinjiang experience

The ecological civilization initiative in China is an ambitious initiative propelled by the central government. Through mechanisms such as ecological redlines and central environmental protection inspections, local governments are obliged to shift their development paradigms. This top-down approach presents both challenges and opportunities for resource-based cities that strive for sustainable development and conservation. This study employs a longitudinal case study of the transformation of Altay Prefecture in Xinjiang from a mining-dominated city to a vibrant ice and snow tourism destination. This paper highlights the challenges and opportunities faced by Altay in its journey towards sustainable tourism development. Altay initially struggled with its mining legacy, but it gradually navigated the trade-offs between preservation and growth amid its ecological constraints. In the final phase, strategies were adopted to harmonize environmental conservation with economic development despite challenges such as a singular economic structure, limited funding, poor infrastructure, human resource scarcity, and low resident engagement. Ultimately, Altay has emerged as a successful tourism destination and showcases how local aspirations can align with national ecological civilization directives to foster high-quality development and enhance regional ecological governance. This study enriches the literature by analysing local government strategies for achieving sustainable tourism development and offers insights into the transformation of resource-based cities.