Research on the influence mechanism of participating in tourism on farmers’ livelihood vulnerability

The vulnerability of farmers’ livelihoods is related to the consolidation of poverty alleviation achievements and the promotion of rural revitalization strategies. Based on the theory of sustainable livelihood, 432 farmers in rural tourism destinations in Enshi Prefecture were investigated on the spot. The livelihood vulnerability of farmers with different levels of tourism participation was compared by means of T-test, variance analysis and other methods. This paper uses multiple linear regression, PSM robustness test and mediation effect test to deeply explore the impact mechanism of farmers’ participation in tourism on livelihood vulnerability. The findings are as follows: ① Participation in tourism reduces the livelihood vulnerability of farmers, especially improves the adaptability of farmers. Among the farmers with different levels of tourism participation, the livelihood vulnerability of the part-time farmers participating in tourism is the lowest, and the adaptability is the highest. ② Mechanism analysis shows that farmers’ participation in tourism enhances the endogenous development momentum such as livelihood skills and income diversification, thus reducing their livelihood vulnerability. ③ The impact of rural households’ participation in tourism on their livelihood vulnerability is heterogeneous due to different rural tourism development modes. Only rural households in villages relying on the mode of eco-agriculture significantly reduce their livelihood vulnerability through participation in tourism. The rural tourism destination of Enshi Prefecture should enhance the participation degree of rural tourism community and enhance the endogenous development power of farmers, so as to reduce the livelihood vulnerability of farmers and promote the process of rural revitalization.