The Ministry of Culture and Tourism recently released Several Measures on Releasing Tourism Consumption Potential to Promote the High Quality Development of Tourism, which provides good policy support for the development of rural cultural and tourism industry. Promoting tourism consumption innovation can develop more distinctive rural tourism products and attract more tourists to experience rural life; Improving the tourism consumption environment can improve tourists' satisfaction and consumption experience. Reasonable use of these measures can further accelerate the development of rural tourism and promote the comprehensive implementation of the rural revitalization strategy.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China's rural cultural and tourism industry has made remarkable achievements. By 2022, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism has selected 300 key towns (townships) and 1238 key villages for rural tourism in China; Yucun Village in Zhejiang Province and Xidi Village in Anhui Province have been listed in the first batch of "World's Best Tourism Villages" by the United Nations World Tourism Organization... A number of rural tourism destinations with ecological beauty, production beauty and life beauty are booming. Rural tourism has become an important force to promote rural revitalization. With the development of rural cultural and tourism industry, farmers' income has increased significantly, ecological environment has been protected and repaired, residents' life has improved significantly, and excellent traditional culture has been inherited and promoted. For example, through the development of rural tourism, the Danling Shu Path Cultural Tourism Scenic Spot in Danling County, Sichuan Province has become a popular attraction, driving the local economic development. It can be seen that rural tourism has made remarkable achievements in promoting the economy, improving the environment and inheriting culture, making positive contributions to the implementation of the rural revitalization strategy.
The rapid development of rural tourism benefits from a series of cultural and tourism industry development policies issued by China. The 14th Five Year Plan for Tourism Development, the National Rural Industry Development Plan (2020 – 2025), and the Opinions on Promoting the Cultural Industry to Enable Rural Revitalization... A series of policies and measures have promoted the development of rural tourism in the new era onto the fast lane. The release and implementation of the policy has led the development of rural tourism strategy, promoted the improvement of business environment in various regions, and promoted the integration of tourism, culture and other industries.
China's rural tourism industry started late and has not yet completely got rid of the self initiated development model. On the whole, the rural cultural and tourism infrastructure is relatively weak, especially in transportation, accommodation, catering, etc., which limits the scale and quality to a certain extent. The shortage of professional talents in the industry and the lack of high-quality managers and practitioners lead to the management level and service quality in the industry to be improved. The marketing and publicity ability of cultural tourism in many regions is weak, and many excellent resources and projects cannot be widely publicized, which affects the development and attraction of rural tourism. There is a lack of clear long-term planning for industrial development, and the concept and phenomenon of ignoring the protection of ecological environment and traditional culture still exist. In the long run, it is not conducive to the sustainable development of rural tourism.
To promote the high-quality development of rural cultural and tourism industry, the government, enterprises and all sectors of society need to work together to constantly improve and optimize the rural tourism consumption environment. This is the key to "breaking the circle" of rural tourism and will promote the vigorous development of rural cultural and tourism industry.
At the industrial policy level, it is necessary to clarify the development plan, provide preferential support such as funds and taxes, and provide overall strategic guidance and policy support for the rural cultural and tourism industry. The long-term and comprehensive rural cultural and tourism development plan should be formulated and improved, and the development goals, paths and policy measures should be established. Increase financial support for high-quality rural cultural and tourism projects, set up special funds for the industry, and provide loans and guarantee services for project construction. In addition, many cultural and tourism enterprises are start-ups, small and micro enterprises, so in terms of tax policy, enterprises can be given certain tax incentives according to specific circumstances to reduce the burden on enterprises.
At the enterprise level, it is necessary to strengthen the integration and innovation of the industrial chain, improve the quality and level of service, and enhance the competitiveness and anti risk ability of enterprises. Encourage local leading cultural and tourism enterprises to play a leading role in industrial chain integration, strengthen the integration with agriculture, cultural creativity, featured goods and other related industries, form a more reasonable industrial layout, and strengthen the synergy between industries. Enterprises should also focus on improving service quality and providing more personalized and customized services. The staff training and management level should be continuously improved, and the staff should be encouraged to provide better services through performance and other incentive measures. Strengthen the use of scientific and technological means to implement digital service innovation.
At the consumption level, it is necessary to enhance consumers' sense of participation and experience, improve consumer protection mechanisms, and enhance consumers' trust and satisfaction. Enterprises can be encouraged to carry out a variety of interactive experience activities in combination with local characteristics, such as farming experience, handcrafting, etc., so as to increase consumers' sense of participation while enriching tourism projects. We should also strengthen the protection of consumers' rights and interests, establish a sound complaint handling mechanism, strengthen supervision, crack down on false propaganda, price fraud and other bad behaviors, and increase consumers' trust and satisfaction.
Building a good rural cultural and tourism industry ecosystem and promoting the rural cultural and tourism industry to achieve high-quality and sustainable development is a powerful move for rural revitalization, which will better meet the growing needs of the people for a better life.
