How to Activate Rural Tourism?
Professor Lyu Jiaying (Vice Director and Associate Professor, College of Tourism and Hotel Management, Zhejiang University)
China's rural tourism industry has developed rapidly despite its late start, playing a significant role in coordinating urban and rural development, optimizing rural economic structures, and increasing farmers' incomes. However, the development of rural tourism has led to issues such as environmental degradation, damage to rural culture, and intensified homogenization of competition, due to excessive reliance on resources, a singular focus on single industries, and an inappropriate distribution model. Therefore, the key to rural tourism development lies in shifting from resource dependence to innovation-driven transformation, from a single industry mindset to a system-level ecological chain thinking, and from government-led input to multi-subject collaborative output.
It is necessary to resolve the balance of interests and villagers' participation and autonomy.
The core value of rural space is its 'authentic rural character.' Through the research and development, extension, and packaging of rural elements such as rural landscapes, rural products, rural customs, rural gardens, and rural crafts, a cultural and creative product system and a cultural activity system should be formed. The rural landscape should be the spatial framework, based on farming, combined with art, farming, and landscape, transforming rural landscapes into rural scenery. Rural products should be used as the carrier, outlining space and building facades, incorporating farming tools, utensils, and toys to trigger memories. Rural customs should be revived through the combination of traditional craftsmanship and modern art, integrating rural tourism's core attraction, experience, and presentation. Rural settlements should be designed with a focus on shared hospitality, incorporating food, craftsmanship, and folk customs, while improving hardware standards to create rural guesthouses. Rural gardens should provide visitors with a sense of tranquility, health, and warmth. Rural interactions should enable visitors to experience the joy of farming, the joy of crafting, and the joy of culinary delights.
It is necessary to build a tourism industry ecosystem based on rural tourism.
In overall planning and product iteration of traditional rural tourism, much emphasis has been placed on using rural areas as the spatial framework for sightseeing and tourism, followed by product design and updates, such as creating 'homesickness' themed experiences, increasing entertainment performances, expanding space dimensions, and enriching tourism products. This has not extended 'rural' as the core, and the benefits for enterprises and villagers are limited to tourism services and tourist products.
It is necessary to fully leverage the advantages of 'rural' for the development of rural industries and tourism products: research and develop fresh vegetable products, creating ecological food specialties; organize seasonal flower and fruit picking activities to enrich conventional tourism products; establish fruit and vegetable processing workshops to extend the agricultural industrial chain; develop themed fruit and vegetable cultural and creative products; provide fresh agricultural products online services to complete digital industrial service; build fresh surrounding delivery systems to create fresh smart systems; research natural classroom teaching systems to create children's education industries; through forest-based cabins and rural renovation, provide reception, residence, and health services; using rural fields, rivers, and mountains as the spatial framework, organize characteristic sports tourism and competitions. In short, we must evolve from a single tourism industry into agricultural prosperity, cultural revival, ecological sustainability, industrial flourishing, economic prosperity, organizational revitalization, platform prosperity, tourist-friendly, and farmer satisfaction, building a 'Nine Prosperity Rural' new pattern.
Source: Nongmin Ribao
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