Sustainable Tourism as a Catalyst for Community Empowerment: A Comparative Study of Cultural Tourism in South Central China

ABSTRACT This study investigates relationship between system construction, cultural tourism empowerment, and citizens' participation in context of sustainable rural tourism development in South Central China. The research employs a structural equation model (SEM) in its analysis of data collected from rural communities in Hunan, Hubei, and Jiangxi. The results present significant positive relationships between system construction and cultural tourism empowerment ( β = 0.493, p < 0.001), cultural tourism empowerment and community participation ( β = 0.221, p < 0.01), and system construction and community participation ( β = 0.221, p < 0.01). Cultural tourism empowerment is further identified as a partial mediator of the relationship between system construction and community participation (mediating effect: 0.108, p < 0.01). The study also identifies that participation capacity acts as a mediator between system construction and cultural tourism empowerment ( β = 0.120, p < 0.05). These findings illustrate that not only an organized tourism system empower communities, but also generates active community participation in tourism development. The study offers important insights into the importance of correlating system construction with cultural tourism empowerment for effective sustainable rural tourism. The research findings show that enhanced community involvement through empowerment and change of the system can lead to fairer distribution of tourism benefits, thus enabling sustainable long‐term rural tourism destinations. The research offers policy implications to local governments and tourism stakeholders who aim to improve inclusive and sustainable tourism practice in rural areas.