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Policy Background

Rural tourism is an important part of the tourism industry and rural characteristic industries. It is an important force in comprehensively promoting rural revitalization, expanding channels for farmers to increase income and become wealthy, and helping to expand domestic demand and stabilize growth. The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2017 proposed the implementation of the rural revitalization strategy, and subsequently issued special planning measures such as the "Action Plan for Promoting the Upgrading and Improvement of Rural Tourism Development," further strengthening support for the development of leisure agriculture and rural tourism. In recent years, with the implementation of the rural revitalization strategy, leisure agriculture and rural tourism have received increasing attention as a new driving force to promote the transformation and upgrading of agriculture and increase farmers' income.

(1) Implementation of the Rural Culture and Tourism Deep Integration Project

The state attaches great importance to the development of leisure agriculture and rural tourism. The Central No. 1 document has deployed it for many consecutive years and has introduced a series of supporting policies to promote the high-quality development of the industry. The 2023 Central No. 1 document proposes developing rural catering, shopping, culture, sports, tourism, and leisure services, implementing high-quality rural leisure tourism projects, and promoting the upgrading of rural homestays. The 2024 Central No. 1 document proposes accelerating the construction of a modern rural industrial system integrating agriculture, culture, and tourism, implementing the rural culture and tourism deep integration project, promoting the construction of rural tourism agglomeration areas (villages), cultivating new formats such as ecological tourism, forest health preservation, and leisure camping, and promoting the standardized development and quality improvement of rural homestays. A series of policy measures have pointed out the direction for comprehensively promoting the development of agricultural and tourism integration, and China's agricultural and tourism integration development has entered a stage of quality improvement.

(2) Enriching the Supply of High-Quality Rural Tourism

The "Domestic Tourism Improvement Plan (2023-2025)" issued by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism proposes creating high-quality tourism destinations, carrying out pilot programs for cultural industries to empower rural revitalization, promoting the improvement of rural tourism operation levels, and launching a batch of national key rural tourism villages and towns, rural tourism agglomeration areas, and international rural tourism destinations. Enriching the supply of high-quality rural tourism and better meeting the people's ever-growing needs for a better life are important parts of improving the quality of domestic tourism.

(3) Stimulating New Vitality in the Digital Economy of Rural and County Areas

The "2024 Key Points of Work for Digital Village Development" issued by the Central Cyberspace Administration of China and three other departments proposes to take multiple measures to promote the integrated development of agriculture, culture, and tourism, implement the rural culture and tourism deep integration project, rely on the internet to promote the development of new formats such as leisure agriculture, ecological tourism, and forest health preservation, and better promote supply and demand matching and activate rural tourism consumption. Continue to guide online travel platform companies to extend their products and services to rural areas, and strengthen the publicity and promotion of national key rural tourism villages and towns and high-quality rural tourism routes. Continue to carry out digital improvement actions for rural tourism and the "Rural Shopping and Tourism" series of activities, promoting new products, new scenarios, and new experiences in rural tourism. Continue to support and implement the cultural and tourism entrepreneurship action, carry out the second batch of pilot programs for cultural industries to empower rural revitalization, and explore new paths for the integrated development of rural culture and tourism. Deeply implement the "Famous Rural Action," innovate the "one-map" service for urban and rural area division place names, and promote the deep integration of rural place name services with online tourism, rural e-commerce, and smart agriculture. It requires using informatization to drive and lead the modernization of agriculture and rural areas, promoting high-quality and efficient agriculture, livable and employable rural areas, and affluent farmers, providing solid support for accelerating the construction of a strong cyberspace and a strong agricultural country.

(4) Upgrading Rural Smart Tourism Infrastructure

The "Action Plan for Innovative Development of Smart Tourism (2024)" issued by the Office of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Secretariat of the Central Cyberspace Administration of China, and four other departments proposes strengthening the collaborative innovation and development of 5G+ smart tourism, implementing the "Signal Upgrade" special action, continuously improving the 5G network coverage of national key rural tourism villages and towns and other key tourism areas, optimizing the quality of 5G network services in key areas and areas with high passenger flow, and exploring and utilizing the potential and advantages of 5G technology in video surveillance, real-time transmission, and unmanned driving, expanding application scenarios in the tourism field. Continue to launch 5G+ smart tourism application pilot projects and solutions. Through intelligent rural infrastructure, leisure agriculture and rural tourism can better adapt to the needs of the digital age and meet tourists' pursuit of high-quality and personalized tourism experiences.

Industry Status and Development Trends

(1) Development Status

In recent years, with the rapid development of China's economy and the continuous improvement of people's living standards, leisure agriculture and rural tourism have gradually become an important choice for urban residents' leisure and entertainment. Against this background, China's leisure agriculture and rural tourism industry has developed rapidly.

1. Market Size and Growth

Growth in total number of tourist visits and total revenue. According to the statistics of domestic tourism data in the first three quarters of 2024 by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, in the first three quarters of 2024, the number of domestic tourist visits reached 4.237 billion, an increase of 563 million compared to the same period last year, a year-on-year increase of 15.3%. Among them, the number of domestic tourist visits by urban residents was 3.27 billion, a year-on-year increase of 14.9%; the number of domestic tourist visits by rural residents was 967 million, a year-on-year increase of 16.8%.

In the first three quarters of 2024, the total expenditure of domestic tourists reached 4.35 trillion yuan, an increase of 660 billion yuan compared to the previous year, a year-on-year increase of 17.9%. Among them, the expenditure of urban residents was 3.71 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 17.1%; the expenditure of rural residents was 640 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 22.5%.

Holiday tourism continues to be booming. Holiday tourism is a unique phenomenon in China. China's holiday tourism is usually concentrated in several major holidays, such as the Spring Festival, National Day, Labor Day (May 1st), Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, and Qingming Festival. In particular, the Spring Festival and National Day, known as the "Golden Week," are peak tourism seasons, and tourist attractions across the country will welcome a large number of tourists. In 2024, the domestic tourism market during major holidays continued to boom, with the number of tourists during the Spring Festival, Qingming Festival, May Day, and Dragon Boat Festival reaching new historical highs.

Table 1 Number of Tourist Visits during Major National Holidays in 2021-2024 (Unit: 100 million person-times)

Holiday tourism consumption is not limited to tickets but also includes accommodation, catering, shopping, entertainment, and other aspects. In recent years, with the improvement of living standards, tourists' consumption during tourism has also shown a trend of diversification and high-end.

Table 2 Tourism Revenue during Major National Holidays in 2021-2024 (Unit: 100 million yuan)

Rural tourism maintains a high growth trend. According to the "China Rural Tourism Development White Paper 2024" released by Fastdata, in the first quarter of 2024, rural areas received nearly 800 million tourists, setting a new historical high for the same period. In 2023, the output value of China's rural tourism industry exceeded 900 billion yuan, and the tourism industry is of great significance to the revitalization of the rural economy.

In 2023, the per capita tourism output value of farmers reached 1903 yuan. Developing rural tourism is a powerful tool to increase farmers' income. In the first quarter of 2024, the number of rural tourism operators increased by 18% year-on-year, continuing its rapid growth trend.

2. Consumer Demand and Preferences

According to the "China Rural Tourism Development White Paper 2024" released by Fastdata, people born in the 1980s and 1990s are the most important tourist groups for rural tourism, and those born in the 2000s are increasingly interested in rural tourism. Rural tourism is becoming more and more playable, and the average length of tourist stay continues to increase. In the first quarter of 2024, the average playtime exceeded two days. Leisure and relaxation, food check-in, and closeness to nature are the core demands of tourists' rural tourism, and "short-term lying flat" has become a new travel purpose.

Self-driving tours have become an important way for rural tourism users to travel. Data from iMedia Research shows that the proportion of tourists traveling by self-driving is 78.00%, high-speed rail travel accounts for 7.50%, bus travel accounts for 4.50%, ordinary rail travel accounts for 2.30%, and air travel accounts for 1.70%.

Data shows that 70% of Chinese rural tourism users spend between 300 and 900 yuan, 23.7% of tourism users spend more than 900 yuan, and 3.9% of Chinese tourism users spend less than 300 yuan on rural tourism. China's rural tourism consumption is mainly used for food and accommodation, while in some rural tourism countries such as Japan, rural tourism consumption is mainly used for cultural products and ecological products. There is still great potential for development in rural tourism in the future.

3. Product Innovation and Quality Improvement

Rural areas are the foundation of excellent traditional Chinese culture and the fertile ground for the inheritance, development, and continuity of Chinese civilization. In recent years, various regions have leveraged their own advantageous resources and tailored their approaches to create a diverse rural tourism industry, establishing unique development models and giving rise to a large number of desirable rural tourism destinations. They have explored a path of deep integration of culture and tourism, harmonious coexistence between humans and nature, and common prosperity in both material and spiritual terms—a Chinese-style path to rural development.

Since 2021, the United Nations World Tourism Organization has launched the "Best Tourism Villages" selection. More and more Chinese villages are taking to the international stage, becoming a microcosm of the booming development of Chinese villages and a window for the world to view China, continuously showcasing the charm of Chinese civilization and the most authentically beautiful China. In 2021, Yucun Village in Zhejiang Province and Xidi Village in Anhui Province were selected for the first batch of UNWTO "Best Tourism Villages"; in 2022, Dazhai Village in Guangxi and Jingzhu Village in Chongqing were selected; in 2023, Huangling Village in Jiangxi, Xiajiang Village in Zhejiang, Zagana Village in Gansu, and Zhujiawan Village in Shaanxi were selected; and in 2024, Azeke Village in Yunnan, Guanyang Village in Fujian, Shibadong Village in Hunan, Taoping Village in Sichuan, Xiaogang Village in Anhui, Xitou Village in Zhejiang, and Yandun Jiao Village in Shandong were selected. To date, a total of 15 Chinese villages have been selected, ranking first in the world. This has enhanced the cultural appeal and international influence of Chinese rural tourism, using the rural tourism development model to help promote comprehensive rural revitalization and promote the better dissemination of Chinese culture to the world.

Data from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism shows that, as of November 2024, there are 1399 national key rural tourism villages and 198 national key rural tourism towns (townships) nationwide, with more than 60,000 administrative villages participating in rural tourism operations. These villages and towns, by deeply excavating local culture, expanding the industrial chain, and driving local villagers' employment, have achieved increased income for rural residents and greatly improved their quality of life. Rural tourism has become a shining business card for various places to showcase their cultural characteristics, an important force in enriching the tourism consumption market, and a new driving force for rural revitalization in the new era.

To comprehensively promote rural revitalization and implement the Cultural Industry Empowerment Rural Revitalization Plan, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and other departments jointly carried out pilot work on national cultural industry empowerment rural revitalization. In 2023, the first batch of 63 national cultural industry empowerment rural revitalization pilot programs was announced, with Pinggu District and Mentougou District of Beijing among those selected. Carrying out pilot programs for cultural industry empowerment of rural revitalization is an important project to promote the integrated development of the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries and to promote the deep integration of rural culture and tourism. It is of great significance for actively cultivating famous tourism counties and promoting the construction of livable, workable, and tour-friendly beautiful villages.

As of November 2024, there are a total of 241 Class A and Class B tourism homestays nationwide, including 131 Class A and 110 Class B tourism homestays. The constantly expanding Class A and B homestay brands not only mark the entry of homestays into a more standardized new era but also represent more powerful players reaching new heights in terms of rural industrial prosperity and increased income for farmers.

(II) Development Trends

1. Continued Market Growth

With the improvement of the living standards of urban and rural residents and the upgrading of consumption structure, the market demand for recreational agriculture and rural tourism will further increase. In the next few years, the market size will continue to maintain high growth.

2. More Diversified Product Forms

With the diversification of consumer demand, the product forms of recreational agriculture and rural tourism will become more diverse. In addition to traditional projects such as sightseeing and picking, more innovative and competitive rural tourism products will emerge, such as rural vacations, rural health tourism, and rural sports tourism. These products will pay more attention to tourists' sense of experience and participation, meeting tourists' needs for in-depth experience of rural life.

3. Deep Integration of Agriculture, Culture, and Tourism

In the future, recreational agriculture and rural tourism will pay more attention to the deep integration with related industries such as agriculture, culture, and education. By excavating and inheriting regional characteristic culture and combining it with agricultural production and rural life elements, unique and charming rural tourism products will be created. This integrated development not only enriches the connotation and extension of recreational agriculture and rural tourism but also improves its added value and competitiveness.

4. Accelerated Application of Intelligence and Digitalization

With the development of technology, the recreational agriculture and rural tourism industry will accelerate its pace of digital transformation. The application of advanced technologies such as the Internet of Things, big data, and artificial intelligence will become more widespread, improving the intelligent level of tourism services. For example, through intelligent guidance systems and big data analysis, more convenient and efficient tourism experiences can be provided to tourists, while helping enterprises to more accurately understand tourist needs and formulate personalized marketing strategies.

5. International Development Trend

With the deepening of globalization, the international development trend of the rural tourism industry is becoming increasingly apparent. More and more domestic villages are beginning to go global, attracting overseas tourists to experience them. At the same time, domestic tourists are also beginning to go abroad to explore the rural customs of other countries. Therefore, rural tourism enterprises need to actively expand the international market and enhance their international competitiveness. By strengthening cooperation and exchanges with international tourism organizations and travel agencies, more international tourists can be attracted to experience China's rural tourism.

Typical Cases

(I) Longsheng County, Guilin: "Five Ones" Promote the Integration of Agriculture, Culture, and Tourism

Longsheng Multi-Ethnic Autonomous County is located in northeastern Guangxi and northwestern Guilin. It is one of only two multi-ethnic autonomous counties in China and was one of the earliest places where the Party's ethnic policies were put into practice. It boasts two national 4A-level tourist attractions, including Longsheng Hot Springs and Longji Terraced Fields, as well as scenic spots and historical sites such as Huaping Nature Reserve, Xijiangping Primeval Forest, Pengzu Primeval Forest, Dong Drum Towers, Wind-Rain Bridges, Red Army Rock, and Huangluo Yao Long Hair Village, along with various ethnic leisure tourism experiences. It is known as the "Hometown of Terraced Fields in the World," with 228,000 mu of terraced fields and a cultivation history of over 2,300 years. Longji Terraced Fields are located in Longji Town, southeast of Longsheng County, named for the mountains resembling a dragon's backbone. The Longji Terraced Fields possess both the magnificent beauty of form and curve, and the exquisite charm of temperament and spirit, with an elevation drop of over 800 meters. They have been awarded the title of "Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System." In 2022, Dazhai Village was selected as one of the UNWTO "Best Tourism Villages." In 2024, it was included in the "Top Ten Cases of Culture and Tourism Empowering Rural Revitalization" list organized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

1. Policy Guidance, Innovative Financing Models

In recent years, Longsheng Multi-Ethnic Autonomous County has earnestly practiced Xi Jinping's ecological civilization thought, firmly established the development concept that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets," and based on the fact that over 95% of its tourism resources are distributed in vast rural areas, it has focused on the "agriculture-tourism" combination as the main driver. It has explored and implemented the "five-one" measures: "formulating a set of incentive policies, exploring a set of business models, building a batch of demonstration zones, establishing a batch of high-quality brands, and cultivating a batch of characteristic agricultural products," to help rural tourism "blossom fully" and make every effort to drive the masses out of poverty and onto prosperity through rural tourism. Over 30,000 people in the county are directly engaged in the tourism industry, and more than 100,000 indirectly benefit from "tourism livelihoods."

Longsheng insists on viewing tourism as a wealth-generating industry for adjusting the agricultural economic structure, promoting farmers' income increase, and improving livelihoods. It has introduced a series of policies, including the "Interim Measures for Promoting the Development of Culture and Tourism Industry in Longsheng Multi-Ethnic Autonomous County," allocated annual special tourism funds of no less than 10 million yuan, innovated the "Party Flag Leadership + Financial Vanguard" investment and financing model, and explored diversified business models tailored to local conditions, such as tourism enterprise-led, multi-entity collaboration, "Party Branch + Company + Households," and "Village Collective Economy +." These efforts have strongly promoted the integrated development of characteristic beneficial industries and village-level collective economies.

2. Focusing on New Products, Cultivating New Business Forms, Creating New Experiences, and Establishing a New Image

A number of leisure agriculture and rural tourism demonstration zones, such as Jinzhu Homestay Experience Area, Huangluo Yao Long Hair Village Scenic Area, and Jinkeng Yao Terraced Fields Viewing Area, have been successively completed, forming a grand pattern of all-for-one tourism characterized by "pear blossoms all the way up Mount Nan," "rice flowers all the way up Longji," and "a bay of clear water leading to hot springs." This has fostered the emergence of typical rural revitalization demonstration cases that embody beautiful agriculture, beautiful culture, beautiful ecology, beautiful life, and are suitable for living, working, and traveling.

Relying on platforms such as the China Brand Festival Demonstration Base and the Longji International Terraced Fields Cultural Tourism Festival, various folk tourism brands like "Plowing Festival," "Red Dress Festival," "Chili Festival," and "Red Glutinous Rice Festival" have been launched, along with 8 regular folk performance programs, aiming to build the "Multi-Ethnic Ecological Museum" tourism brand.

Leveraging selenium-rich resources, efforts are being strengthened to develop "three products and one standard" characteristic agricultural products, focusing on creating selenium-rich rural tourism agricultural products such as selenium-rich passion fruit, kiwi, and Longji chili.

Giving full play to the advantages of the Momordica grosvenori (Luo Han Guo) characteristic leading industry, a development model integrating its primary, secondary, and tertiary industries is being built, utilizing rural revitalization bridging funds to construct a display center for famous, special, and high-quality characteristic products.

Fully leveraging the Red Yao long hair culture, "Long Hair Xiaozhai" washing and care products have been developed and launched, establishing a healthy and ecological tourism image. In Jinjiang Village, Longsheng, villagers have achieved leapfrog development in their village collective economy by launching exquisite tourism projects such as Red Yao songs and dances, long hair grooming demonstrations, and Red Yao handicrafts, with the village collective economic income reaching 4.9037 million yuan in 2022.

(II) Xixinan Village, Huangshan: Cross-border Reorganization of "Natural Ecology + Cultural Ecology"

Xixinan Village, Xixinan Town, is located in the western suburbs of Huizhou District, Huangshan City, on the south bank of the Fengle River. It boasts well-preserved national key cultural relic protection units—the Laowuge Lurao Pavilion and over 100 ancient buildings from the Ming and Qing dynasties. The nearly 1,000 mu of natural Liquidambar forest along the Fengle River has formed a unique and distinctive landscape of an ancient Jiangnan town. Xixinan Village emphasizes both the protection of ancient architecture and the cultivation of natural ecology, as well as the parallel development of beautiful rural construction and the cultivation of creative industries, transforming into a "net-famous village" with significant influence and reputation. It has received honors such as National Civilized Village, National Key Rural Tourism Village, China's Beautiful Leisure Village, National Forest Village, and China Traditional Village.

1. Integrated Promotion of the "Green Wild Wonderland" Brand

Based on resource endowments, it has carved out a development path primarily focused on natural ecology and ancient village sightseeing, complemented by creative industries.

Exploring the path forward. Since the proposal of comprehensive tourism development for Xixinan Ancient Village in 2003, Xixinan Town has consistently maintained the village's natural ecological and historical cultural features. It has continuously strengthened the protection of the natural Liquidambar forest ecology and ancient buildings, developed the Fengle River and its water conservancy facilities, restored the Eight Sceneries of Xixi, orchards, Laowuge, Diaoxueyuan, the Old Government Office, osmanthus trees, and the Central Street area, among others. It has fostered the development of industries such as research and study tours, art, design, and handicrafts, thus forming the "Green Wild Wonderland Xixinan" brand.

Promoting all-domain layout. Over 80 ancient buildings and traditional residences have been repaired. Efforts have been made to encourage government, social capital, and individuals to jointly participate in the redevelopment and utilization of ancient buildings and traditional residences. The government has acquired 45 residences, listed 24 ancient residences for transfer, and introduced 36 ancient residence protection and utilization projects such as Luyin Mountain Villa, Shilly Weiyan Mansion, and Xibian 55, gradually revitalizing dormant resources. Approximately 100 million yuan has been coordinated from provincial service industry guiding funds, non-standard debt funds for rural revitalization projects, and beautiful village construction funds, resulting in the completion of over 60 infrastructure projects. The village's comprehensive carrying capacity and radiating capabilities continue to improve.

Strengthening industrial formats. Deep excavation of Xixinan's long-standing celebrity culture, architectural culture, stele and rubbing culture, water conservancy culture, calligraphy and painting culture, and poetry society culture has been integrated into the cultivation of cultural and creative industries, forming four creative industry chains: art and design, academia and study tours, culture and experience, and ecology and agricultural products. For example, Turen Academy is committed to building an international design industry-university-research base, cultivating international design talents, and hosting about 150 international students, giving the village a strong international flavor. Study tour teams like "Wangshan Life" and "Shangcun Homestay Cluster" have launched study tour courses such as building national treasures, visiting Laowuge, making Huimo crisp, and agricultural experiences. The annual reception number reaches up to over 7,000 person-times, including over 400 person-times for high-end academic study salons.

2. Establishing the "Five Micro" Model Mechanism

Adhering to the meticulous approach of "embroidery-like" efforts in promoting the "five micro" actions, focusing on "micro-transformation" improvement, "micro-scenic area" cultivation, "micro-creativity" operation, "micro-circulation" development, and "micro-dedication" governance, implementing precise micro-transformation of villages, while maintaining traditional textures, softening hard lines with greenery, optimizing building functions through design, enriching tourist experiences with activities, and reflecting the fusion of tradition, nature, and people everywhere.

3. Driving the integration of the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries through rural tourism

Xixi Nancun drives the integration of the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries through rural tourism, using artistic accommodation to drive the formation of a relatively complete homestay service system, further expanding channels for mass income generation and wealth creation. Keeping up with the wave of informatization, the "Play in Xixi Nan" WeChat applet was developed to promote online homestay reservations and specialty e-commerce sales. Celebrities such as Lei Jun and Sa Beining have promoted it, and "Oriental Selection Watching the World" visited the ancient village. It was successfully selected as the main venue for the National Autumn "Village Evening" in 2024 by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. In 2023, the village received over 600,000 tourists and achieved tourism revenue of 35 million yuan, with village collective operating income reaching 1.3032 million yuan.

(3) Linyi Yinan County: Creating a Modern Version of "Yimeng Mountain Residence"

Yinan County belongs to Linyi City, Shandong Province, located in southeastern Shandong Province, the middle reaches of the Yi River, and the eastern foothills of Mount Meng. Yinan is the center of the Yimeng Revolutionary Base Area and one of the important origins of the Yimeng spirit. In recent years, by leveraging the advantages of "red, green, blue, and ancient springs" resources, it has promoted the integrated development of culture, tourism, and health, creating the Yinan model for county tourism development. It has successively built 16 A-level and above scenic areas, including 6 4A-level scenic areas, such as the Yimeng Red Film and Television Base, Zhuquan Village, and Zhisheng Hot Springs. It has been rated as a "National Tourism Standardization Demonstration County," "First Batch of National Tourism Industry Reform and Innovation Pioneer Area," "National Whole-Region Tourism Demonstration Area," "National Ecological Demonstration Area," "National Garden County City," and "China's Top 100 Characteristic Industry Counties."

1. Innovating "Five Models" to Open New Paths for Rural Revitalization

First, the "Changshan Zhuang Model" driven by red culture, leveraging the advantages of Changshan Zhuang's red cultural resources as a revolutionary battle fortress village, establishing a Shandong Red Sister's Hometown Tourism Area integrating red research and study, film and television shooting, and leisure sightseeing.

Second, the "Zhu Jialin Model" creatively developing rural areas, integrating rural life experience and rural life aesthetics into rural tourism, building dual-creation service platforms such as the Rural Revitalization College, and successively introducing 26 agricultural, cultural, and tourism integration projects.

Third, the "Xinli Village Model" of village-enterprise co-construction, Xinli Village cooperated with Shandong Guanghui Group to establish a tourism development company. Based on traditional apple picking, it developed tourism projects such as homestays, pancake experience halls, apple experience halls, and expansion bases, creating characteristic agricultural product brands such as "Xinli Apples" and "Seven-Color Pancakes," becoming a national 3A-level tourist attraction with distinct red culture, strong folk customs, complete experience functions, and integrated village and scenery.

Fourth, the "Zhuquan Model" of co-construction of two areas, relying on the rural ecological and folk cultural resources of Zhuquan Village's "green bamboo, clear springs, and ancient villages," adhering to the principle of scenic area leading the village and village-enterprise co-construction, developing a new scenic area and simultaneously building a new community. The scenic area's annual visitor flow exceeds 1 million, and it has been rated as a national key rural tourism village.

Fifth, the "Maquan Model" based on the "Two Mountains" theory, constructing the Yimeng Maquan Leisure Park, integrating leisure sightseeing, fruit picking, and homestay vacations, and rated as a national demonstration site for leisure agriculture and rural tourism.

2. Implementing "Four Projects" to Paint a New Picture of Integrated Development

First, implementing a project area-based promotion project, planning and constructing the Wolongyuan urban-rural integration demonstration area, the Donggao Zhuang red rural revitalization area, and other "Top Ten Rural Revitalization Areas" featuring Zhuge Liang's Han Dynasty culture, red education, and rural leisure.

Second, implementing cultural benefit projects for the people, building public cultural service facilities such as libraries, art exhibition centers, and Jiehu Park. Launching 10 immersive performances such as "Yimeng Four Seasons Red Sister" and "Women's Rescue Association." "Immersive Scenario Play: Yinan's Practice of Telling Red Stories" was selected as a typical case of high-quality development of basic-level public cultural services nationwide.

Third, implementing the protection and utilization of cultural relics and intangible cultural heritage projects, selected as the first batch of revolutionary cultural relics protection and utilization demonstration areas, and the Daqingshan Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery was included in the national anti-Japanese war site list. Accelerating the research and development of creative products for 68 intangible cultural heritage projects, building 20 display, experience, and sales platforms such as the Lingshang Yan Museum and the Zhuquan Rural Memory Museum.

Fourth, implementing the construction of a cultural and tourism talent team. Exploring the establishment of a production, education, and research integrated cultural and tourism talent training mechanism, introducing the Taishan Scholar leading talent Professor Han Sheng's team to cooperate in developing red immersive performances. Building local talent training platforms such as the Xugong Yan Study Institute, Jingtai Blue Craftsmanship Team, and Yuanbao Root Carving Training Base, cultivating 85 intangible cultural heritage inheritors and 6 handicraft masters.

Problem Analysis

(1) Problems in Talent

Operators lack innovation capabilities. Project managers in leisure agriculture and rural tourism lack innovation capabilities, blindly learning from benchmarks, not paying attention to developing the project's own advantages, with prominent problems of mutual imitation and single varieties among projects, lacking innovative points and project characteristics that attract tourists, and failing to drive local economic development.

Service and reception levels are low. On the one hand, catering, accommodation, entertainment, safety, and hygiene do not meet basic standards and requirements; on the other hand, some travel agencies use information asymmetry to engage in monopolistic operations, while rural tourism operators, after understanding the actual situation, reduce service items, lower service standards, or even refuse groups and overcharge tourists to increase their profit margins, resulting in damage to tourist interests and serious damage to the reputation of rural tourism destinations.

Lack of high-level innovative tourism talents. Most operators in leisure agriculture and rural tourism have not received systematic and professional training and education, have low service skills, lack the knowledge and skills required for innovation and entrepreneurship, and lack long-term development awareness and modern management awareness. There is a lack of scientific and technological personnel who directly provide R&D services for leisure agriculture and rural tourism projects, a lack of compound talents who are familiar with agricultural project management and can plan themed activities, and various business talents to support the operation of rural tourism projects, making it difficult to form an integrated production, education, and research ecological industrial chain.

(2) Problems in Products

The products are rudimentary and lack a satisfactory user experience. Currently, most rural tourism and recreational agricultural projects remain in their initial stages of development, with low-grade tourism products. Many are simply renovated existing ponds, orchards, farmlands, and breeding farms, mostly remaining at the rudimentary level of "farm stays." Tourism activities are limited to countryside sightseeing, fruit and vegetable picking, pond fishing, mountain climbing, and board games, primarily meeting tourists' material needs while neglecting their spiritual and cultural needs. Technology, culture, and art are not used to enhance the added value of tourism products. There is a lack of product participation and experiential activities, resulting in a lack of knowledge and interest throughout the tourism process. This leads to shorter tourist stays, hindering the development of core competitiveness and profit growth points.

Tourism layouts are scattered, and sites are small-scale. Currently, recreational agriculture and rural tourism parks, farms, and villages are mostly point-like distributions, failing to form large-scale recreational agriculture and rural tourism clusters. There is a lack of a sound win-win cooperation mechanism among enterprises. The demonstration and leading role of large-scale recreational agriculture and rural tourism enterprises is insufficient, and specialty agricultural products cannot achieve industrial development. The scale economy and brand effect are not obvious.

Intense product homogenization competition. Numerous recreational agriculture and rural tourism projects exhibit significant similarities, with homogeneous products failing to meet the multi-layered, diversified, and high-cultural needs of tourists. This makes it difficult to create unique selling points to attract tourists. Similar market positioning and monotonous tourism activities result in very short tourist stays, with little engagement in shopping, entertainment, or other tourism activities that contribute significantly to tourism revenue.

Tourism activities are highly seasonal. This leads to excessive tourist concentration during peak seasons, overloading the ecological environment and exceeding service capacity. Conversely, the off-season is too slow, especially for rural tourism attractions focusing on fresh fruit and vegetable picking, which are highly dependent on the season. During the long off-season, tourism facilities are idle, staff are underutilized, and some attractions may even have to close down.

Problems in Marketing

Lack of standardized management. Currently, the management of rural tourism and recreational agriculture suffers from many irregularities, outdated development concepts, and a lack of rural tourism brands. Furthermore, due to incomplete industry standards and irregular management, operational efficiency is generally low, overall industry quality is poor, and comprehensive efficiency is not high.

Lack of brand promotion and publicity. Firstly, operators of recreational farms or parks lack market development and operational maintenance experience. Secondly, operators lack a strong promotional awareness, with most still relying on word-of-mouth marketing. Thirdly, efforts to promote themselves, their attractions, and existing tourism products are insufficient. They have not combined their leading industries and local folk culture to create distinctive thematic and corporate cultures, making it difficult to leave a lasting impression on consumers. Fourthly, the use of modern information technology is insufficient, and platforms for various agricultural databases and real-time information dissemination mechanisms have not yet been established. The sharing and timeliness of market information are poor.

Problems in the Environment

Rural infrastructure is underdeveloped. Firstly, rural transportation is inconvenient. In many areas, rural roads are of low grade, narrow, and lack parking lots and intercity buses, making it inconvenient for tourists to enter and exit. Secondly, some rural tourism destinations have poor service facilities and underdeveloped infrastructure and environmental construction. Facilities such as roads, tourism traffic signs, public toilets, environmental protection facilities, garbage disposal, parking lots, safe drinking water, power supply, and instant communication cannot meet the needs of tourism activities, hindering the further development of rural tourism.

Rural ecological environment faces enormous pressure. Firstly, destructive construction. In some places, the development and operation of rural tourism projects have led to extensive deforestation, mountain excavation, and demolition of old houses, causing the original natural landscape of rural destinations to disappear completely and damaging the beautiful natural environment. Secondly, destructive operations. In some areas, rural sewage treatment and garbage collection facilities are lacking, and a large amount of untreated domestic sewage is directly discharged into rivers and streams, causing water pollution, with garbage visible everywhere. Thirdly, destructive tourist behavior. During peak tourist seasons, the influx of tourists and vehicles affects air quality. The uncivilized behavior of some tourists causes significant damage to the rural ecological environment.

Rural humanistic environment is threatened. Firstly, the loss of "local" characteristics in rural areas. Operators build non-local style buildings to improve their living conditions or provide tourists with more advanced and comfortable accommodation, destroying the original rural landscape. Secondly, the invasion of urban culture leads to the gradual disappearance of traditional rural culture. While bringing economic income to rural areas, a large number of urban tourists also bring strong urban culture, impacting the unique cultural connotations of rural areas and destroying the rich local traditional culture. Furthermore, operators commercialize and simplify traditional folk performances, impacting the simple folk customs and humanistic ecology of the countryside.

Problems in Planning and Management

Insufficient policy and financial support. Financial security is fundamental to entrepreneurship. Due to limitations in local financial resources, environment, land, and property rights, many projects encounter difficulties in financing and land use during planning and implementation. Difficulties in construction land approval and limited land quotas restrict entrepreneurs' innovative product supply. Coupled with high industry investment and long return periods, entrepreneurs generally face a shortage of funds, and policy support is still insufficient.

Imperfect management system and mechanism. Currently, the government has issued relatively few relevant laws and regulations, and the management system is imperfect. Issues with sustainable development systems and mechanisms still exist. The vitality of innovation and entrepreneurship has not been fully unleashed, and supporting infrastructure and public service facilities still need further strengthening. Policies and mechanisms related to assessment and incentives, diversified capital investment, enterprise growth, technology transfer, talent incentives, and financial services urgently need improvement. In addition, the implementation of existing policies is not ideal.

Development Suggestions

Strengthening Policy and Financial Support

Policy improvement is fundamental, and market operation is key. The development of rural tourism requires adherence to government guidance and market orientation, strengthening government coordination and guidance support.

On the one hand, formulate relevant laws, regulations, or plans for rural tourism operations, construction, environmental protection, and safety. Strengthen the government's role in policy support, standardized management, public services, and environmental creation to promote the improvement of rural tourism infrastructure and service facilities.

On the other hand, establish special funds for rural tourism development, actively introduce market mechanisms, adopt various business models, fully mobilize the enthusiasm of industry associations and social forces, encourage and support individuals and various economic entities to participate in rural tourism development and construction, and play an important role of social capital in the development of rural tourism.

Strengthening Farmers' Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Training

Establish a platform for entrepreneurial and employment services. Strengthen services such as information dissemination, skills training, and entrepreneurship guidance. Implement action plans for migrant workers and other personnel returning home to start businesses, emphasize skills training for rural tourism practitioners, launch a "Million Rural Tourism Makers" initiative, and guide returning migrant workers, rural youth, and rural college/university graduates to innovate and start businesses in rural tourism.

Collaborate with universities and implement expert assistance. Implement an expert assistance system, leverage the intellectual support of higher research institutions, specifically invite experts and scholars to organize various specialized rural tourism operation and management training courses, and establish a comprehensive training system.

Organize diverse activities. Organize local villagers and service personnel to participate in industry forums, visits and inspections, promotional exhibitions, and other activities. Organize external visits and exchanges, focusing on visiting and inspecting typical examples of leisure agriculture and rural tourism development, learning from the development experience of boutique guesthouses in regions like Taiwan, building social platforms for communication and exchange among different operators, and fostering an open, inclusive, and mutually learning entrepreneurial and employment atmosphere.

(III) Innovate rural tourism products and services

Innovation in the forms of rural tourism products. Artistic decoration and furnishing of the environment, using high-tech packaging for rural tourism products to give tourists a novel experience in form; designing activities where tourists participate in making craft souvenirs, which provides a new labor experience and avoids the homogeneity of tourist souvenirs; villages with distinct culinary features can develop cooking experience programs where ingredients are freshly picked, learned, and made.

Innovation in types of rural tourism products. Relying on the endowments of rural tourism resources and changes in tourism market demand, targeted development of characteristic rural tourism products, with particular emphasis on strengthening the development of rural experiential tourism products and projects.

Innovation in functions of rural tourism products. Targeted development of leisure and entertainment functions, medical and healthcare functions, and learning and development functions for rural tourism products to meet tourists' entertainment, social, and self-development needs.

(IV) Deeply explore the cultural connotation of rural areas

The development of rural tourism needs to adhere to an agriculture-oriented approach, highlighting traditional cultural characteristics, and should not deviate from agriculture, rural areas, and farmers. It must be based on agriculture, with farmers as the main body, and rural areas as the unit, integrating primary, secondary, and tertiary industries. Focusing on agricultural production processes, farmers' working lives, and rural customs, it should deeply explore the rich agricultural and folk cultural resources of rural areas, enrich cultural connotations, promote the commodification of traditional rural culture, transform resource advantages and cultural advantages into economic advantages, vigorously cultivate characteristic rural tourism industries, and while driving rural economic development, create a good leisure environment for urban and rural consumers.

(V) Strengthen the brand building of rural tourism

Adhere to local conditions, highlight characteristics, establish the concept of grand tourism, grand industry, grand market, and grand development, fully integrate resources such as agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, fishery, and tourism culture, and cultivate a number of leisure agriculture and rural tourism demonstration units with specialized operations, standardized management, and standardized services. Organize promotional and exhibition activities to form a batch of characteristic rural tourism brands, focusing on cultivating well-known and famous rural tourism trademarks and brands, achieving differentiated docking, complementary advantages, reasonable combination, and constructing a functional and diverse industrial layout.

(VI) Implement diversified tourism marketing

On the one hand, innovate new marketing methods such as online marketing and hot topic marketing. Strengthen the construction of rural tourism websites, enrich introductions to tourism resources, products, and routes; keep up with current events and hot topics to increase visibility and exposure. On the other hand, innovate festival marketing. Rural tourism destinations deeply explore cultural connotations such as natural resources, traditional culture, and local customs, plan characteristic themed festival marketing activities, and showcase the brand image of rural tourism destinations.

(VII) Innovate rural tourism business models

The development of rural tourism should select the most suitable business form according to local conditions, cultivate new types of operating entities, and innovate rural tourism business forms. In less developed rural tourism areas, the government needs to lead the leapfrog development of rural tourism, choosing models such as government-invested development and operation, "government + company" operation, "government + company + community" operation, and "government + community + farmers" operation for rural tourism development. In more developed rural tourism areas, rural tourism development is primarily market-regulated with supplementary administrative regulation, forming organizational forms such as rural tourism development companies or rural tourism professional cooperatives, implementing business models such as "company + farmers," "shareholding cooperative enterprise + community + farmers," "village collective economy + farmers," and independent development by "farmers + farmers" enterprises.

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