Effects of rural revitalization on rural tourism

Abstract

Rural revitalization is not only a strategy to promote sustainable rural development in developing countries, but also an inevitable trend towards global urbanization. This study used multi-source data, such as remote sensing images, building data, official websites and field survey, to investigate the morphological and social evolution of rural communities from the perspective of touristification and to analyze their drivers. The results showed that from 1988 to 2016, the selected sample case (Jinshitan scenic area, a tourist location situated in the Liaodong Peninsula in China) experienced continuous increases in the average weighted building height, building volume and floor area ratio; the proportion of non-agricultural employment increased by 99.57%; and tourism has become the leading industry in the research site, with a tenfold value of agricultural output value during touristification. These data lend support to that rural revitalization strategy is beneficial to non-urban communities in terms of their economic development and growth in China. Findings provided managerial implications suggesting the local government should implement tourism-related development projects to enhance rural tourism activities to develop the local economy and increase employment.