【正文】 中文 3600 字 標題： Sustainability and Local Tourism Branding in England’s South Downs 原文： This paper reports on a stakeholder consultation exercise that examined the tourism industry’s perception of developing a local tourism branding scheme within the South Downs’ protected areas in southeast England. The research shows that such schemes could offer potential benefits that are recognisable by the tourism industry, while helping to meet the statutory aims of the protected area. The paper records the perceptions of small tourism businesses, their fears, awareness of tourism impacts, perceptions of sustainable tourism and of local branding, and key criteria connected to the future organisation of a local tourism branding scheme. The conclusion lists the remendations for the implementation of a local branding scheme, including grassroots stakeholder consultation that encourages ownership and participation, institutional frameworks that support capacitybuilding and the importance of developing core values within a local brand. doi: Keywords: tourism branding, protected areas, sustainability, stakeholder con sultation, small/medium enterprises, South Downs Introduction It is widely recognised that the development of sustainable tourism is essential to the future of both the tourism industry and the protected areas (Dewhurst amp。 Thomas, 2020。 CeballosLascurain, 1996。 Eagles et al., 2020。 Europarc Federation, 2020。 International Union for Conservation of Nature, 1994). Contemporary tourism is characterised by numerous collaborative initiatives between different stakeholders that include a diverse range of grassroots and institutional actors (Vernon et al., 2020). The importance of collaboration and partnerships for achieving sustainable development was articulated in the 1987 Brundtland Report and subsequently became enshrined in Local Agenda 21. Increasing awareness of tourism’s environmental impacts and recognition of the responsibility of tourism businesses for those impacts have been in?uential factors in growing stakeholder participation in tourism development (Bramwell amp。 Lane,1999). Nevertheless, if collaboration between diverse stakeholders is to deliver a more sustainable tourism agenda, there needs to be greater understanding of the opportunities and barriers that such an approach may entail. Empirical research needs to explore the factors that in?uence small tourism businesses in engaging with the sustainability agenda. One approach to achieving sustainable tourism within protected areas is the use of local tourism branding that incorporates core sustainability standards. Located in the southeast of England, the South Downs prises of two protected areas designated as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs): the East Hampshire AONB and the Sussex Downs AONB (see Figure 1). The natural heritage of the South Downs is of international importance including rare habitats and species. The area also boasts a rich cultural heritage。 the natural and cultural heritage have together produced a distinctive rural landscape of chalk grassland, white cliffs, rolling hills and lowland valleys. Since 2020, the UK Government has been in the process of increasing the protection of the Downs for future generations, through a national park designation process that is due for pletion by 2020. The South Downs will then be the nearest national park to London and potentially see increasing visitor numbers to an area that already receives 39 million day visits a year (Countryside Agency, 2020). National park status should ensure the development of a tourism strategy for the area, which will help address many of the challenges relating to visitor management, as well as opening up various opportunities. One such opportunity would be to u