Rural tourism development in China: Principles, models and the future

Rural tourism in China, has undergone a rapid development in the last three decades. It is an emerging and effective catalyst that promotes industrial restructuring, agricultural development and the upgrading of rural areas. However, there remains little understanding about the core issues of rural tourism in China: the exact connotation, the principles, the development models and the future directions. This review paper identifies the key issues based on literature analysis, national statistics and press reports to form a general picture of the past, the current and the future prospects of China’s rural tourism. The paper firstly addresses the definition, content and principles of rural tourism, and then provides an overview and brief evaluation of the progress and the current development models in China. Finally, based on the analysis of the experiences and problems, the authors sum up with five pathways of the future development of China’s rural tourism from the perspective of rural tourism resources, product, market and promotion.