Lifestyle, profit, and the selling of home to tourists in Lijiang, China

Research on Lijiang Old Town, China, reveals that the commodification of home as a lifestyle experience drives both profit and tourism development. The study finds that guesthouse owners strategically blend personal lifestyles with tourist expectations to create meaningful hospitality spaces, transforming them into zones of sentimental care while sustaining capital accumulation. This synergy between profit and lifestyle redefines tourism consumption by integrating home-related elements, turning the sense of 'home' into a marketable commodity. The approach combines qualitative analysis of entrepreneurial strategies with an examination of how these practices shape Lijiang's tourism economy.

Su, X., Zhang, H., & Cai, X. (2020). Lifestyle, profit, and the selling of home to tourists in Lijiang, China. Tourism Geographies, 23(5-6), 1001–1020. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616688.2019.1708447