Construction of evaluation model of ecotourism resources in featured small towns

Purpose With the development of small towns in China, the country pays more and more attention to the protection of landscape resources. It is an urgent problem that is how to protect landscape resources and ecological environment while developing economic industry in small towns. Establishing an ecotourism evaluation model can provide valuable reference for ecotourism planning, development protection and sustainable development of small towns. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to construct the ecotourism evaluation system that accords with the characteristics of small towns. A judgment matrix is constructed to determine specific indicators and factor values based on expert survey results. Based on the AHP theory and considering 4 aspects, construction conditions of featured small towns, ecological and environmental conditions, ecotourism resources endowment and development conditions and tourism capacity. In addition, 16 factor evaluations were selected, evaluation model of ecotourism resources were built and each evaluation index value was confirmed by adopting expert's advice. Findings Ecological environment, socioeconomic, uniqueness, esthetic ornamental value, small-scale industry scale, type and development level, type and scale, tourism talent level, therapeutic and leisure value were the indispensable components of evaluation of ecotourism resources in featured small towns. Originality/value The ideas of ecological environment development are rooted in the hearts of the people with the development of times. The model in this research is pertinent, typical and universal to some extent. Thus it is worth popularizing and applying.