China's rural tourism is becoming more and more popular (expert interpretation)
The website of the American diplomat reported that for Chinese urban residents, rural tourism has become a new craze. In recent years, the number of tourists visiting the countryside has maintained a rapid growth.
The U.S. Consumer News and Business Channel also noted that China is vigorously developing rural tourism to boost consumption in rural areas and mass markets. The media quoted Li Chunlin, deputy director of China's National Development and Reform Commission, as saying that the recovery of tourism has directly increased farmers' income.
Singapore's Straits Times focuses on how the Rural Super Football League (Village Super League) in Rongjiang County, Guizhou Province, is driving innovative development of rural tourism. The media reported that during the "village super" held in May this year, Rongjiang County achieved a comprehensive tourism income of 5.12 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 41.52%.
In the summer of 2023, China's domestic tourism demand will be released intensively. More and more tourists choose to go to the suburbs, rural tourism, leisure vacation, further promote the popularity of rural tourism.
Rural tourism has a distinct sense of spatial difference and life experience, with natural scenery different from the city, unique folk customs, local ingredients and traditional cooking of farm dishes, and residential houses integrated into daily life. Visitors to the countryside can enjoy flowers, picking, fishing, participate in farming, handicraft and intangible cultural heritage activities, and immerse themselves in the beautiful life of the countryside. Compared with the past, nowadays, urban tourists go to the countryside, in addition to enjoying the idyllic scenery, they can also feel the achievements of the construction of the new socialist countryside and experience the butterfly changes of the beautiful countryside firsthand.
The rapid development of rural tourism not only promotes local consumption, employment and investment, but also plays a comprehensive driving role in cultural exchanges and conceptual changes. For example, in recent years, in Huangshan, Anhui, Ningbo, Zhejiang and other places, many entrepreneurs and artists from cities have entered the countryside, effectively promoting the improvement of rural cultural atmosphere and education level, and injecting new spiritual and cultural connotations into common prosperity.
With the in-depth advancement of rural revitalization, rural tourism has become an important starting point and feasible path to promote the prosperity of rural industries, ecological livability, civilized rural customs, effective governance and rich life. China's vivid practice of developing rural tourism and helping rural revitalization has accumulated valuable experience:
First, we should base ourselves on the local land and rely on peasants. Without the recognition, participation and sharing of the villagers living here, rural tourism cannot solve the human resources and policy support required for project operation, and may even lead to lifestyle distortion and local culture rupture in the long run. Therefore, in the process of developing rural tourism, we must fully respect the wishes of farmers, mobilize their enthusiasm, initiative and creativity, improve their sense of gain, happiness and security, and let farmers continue to benefit.
The second is to adapt measures to local conditions and time conditions. There is no unified rural tourism development model, some villages have "innate advantages" because they are close to big cities, and some villages rely on rich local tourism resources. How to find a suitable development path requires more professionals to do full research and planning before developing rural tourism.
In 2023, the Central Document No. <> proposed to implement the rural leisure tourism boutique project and promote the integrated construction of key villages in rural tourism. At present and for some time to come, the key tasks for the high-quality development of rural tourism in China include: first, strengthening the market cultivation, image construction and publicity and promotion of rural tourism; Second, improve rural tourism reception facilities, adapt measures to local conditions, innovate leisure, vacation, health care, research, ice and snow, and summer tourism products, and improve the service quality of rural tourism; Third, attract better tourism elements, especially capital, technology and professional talents to gather in rural areas, and improve the level of rural tourism modernization.
The countryside carries the nostalgia of Chinese, no matter how fast or far we go, we can't help but look back at the road we came from, and we will always worry about our home. Rural tourism provides a spiritual habitat for urban residents and injects new momentum into rural development. In China's strategic process of poverty alleviation, overall moderate prosperity, rural revitalization and common prosperity, rural tourism is an important way. Summarizing and promoting typical cases of rural tourism and sharing the experience of rural revitalization and common prosperity with the world has become novel material for contemporary Chinese stories.
(■ Interviewed experts: Dai Bin, President of China Tourism Research Institute, Yan Yu, Pan Zimeng, interviewed and collated)