International Journal of Research Studies in Management 2022 Volume 10 Number 2, 35-50 © The Author(s) / Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs CC BY-NC-ND Perspective on the acceptability and readiness for community-based ecotourism development: An empirical study of Anhui Province, China Deng, Bin Lyceum of the Philippines University Batangas, Philippines (deng521bin@qq.com) Felicen, Sevillia S. Lyceum of the Philippines University Batangas, Philippines (ssfelicen@lpubatangas.edu.ph) Received: 21 February 2022 Revised: 10 March 2022 Accepted: 17 March 2022 Available Online: 17 March 2022 DOI: 10.5861/ijrsm.2022.20 ISSN: 2243-7770 Online ISSN: 2243-7789 OPEN ACCESS Abstract Ecotourism is one of the fastest growing sectors in the global tourism industry and is regarded as an effective way to promote environmental protection, sustainable development and "greening" tourism practices. This study aims to assess the community-based ecotourism acceptability and readiness in Anhui province, China. Specifically, it will determine the status of community in terms of social, economic, cultural and environmental aspects; assess the potentials of community-based ecotourism (CBET) in the context of community organization, resources and management; determine the acceptability and readiness of the province with regards to CBET; test the significant relationship between CBET status and potentials, status and acceptability & readiness, potentials and acceptability & readiness of CBET; and proposed a framework for CBET. The study used a descriptive method of research with 385 residents near the ecotourism sites as respondents of the study. Frequency, percentage, weighted mean, ranking, Shapiro-Wilk Test, Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal Wallis test, Spearman rho were the statistical test used. Based on the result, community-based ecotourism in Anhui mostly lies on the very powerful sense of cultural identity that the residents of the destination identify themselves with. The potentiality of community-based ecotourism in Anhui, China is strongest in terms of its community organization which may be attributed to the structure of tourism governance itself. CBET is acceptable to the residents because it can improve the quality of life the province and the residents are ready for further development due to the profits it can contribute to the destination. It was also found out that significant relationship exists between status and potentials of CBET, potentials of CBET and CBET Acceptability & Readiness and status of CBET and CBET Acceptability & Readiness. Keywords: community based ecotourism, acceptability, readiness, Anhui Province