Rural Tourism Competitiveness and Development Mode, a Case Study from Chinese Township Scale Using Integrated Multi-Source Data

Abstract

Tourism has been seen and adopted as a vital means for achieving rural economic and social revitalization worldwide without harming sustainable development principles. For China, the evaluation of rural tourism competitiveness at the township level is essential for planning and developing the tourism industry as a basic administration and economic unit, but there is not enough research due to the lack of applicable data and systematic methods. Therefore, this study constructed a town-level rural tourism competitiveness evaluation and development mode classification model based on the modified Michael Porter’s Diamond Model using integrated multi-source data. By taking the 1806 township units in Henan Province, China as examples, we conclude four different modes based on the level of the comprehensive score and industrial internal balance (i.e., balanced development mode with multiple advantages, related and supporting industries driving mode, ecological resource-led mode, and rural landscape experience mode). Policy suggestions for the optimization of the rural tourism industry for Henan are discussed based on the results.