Ignored Opinions: Villager-Satisfaction-Based Evaluation Method of Tourism Village Development—A Case Study of Two Villages in China

Abstract

The neglect of endogenous strength is one of the reasons for the lack of sustainability in mountainous rural development and tourism development in China at present. How to incorporate the opinions of villagers in the tourism development process led by the government and other external entities is the main focus of this article. Based on the fieldwork of two typical mountainous villages and a previous rural development evaluation method, this article proposes the villager-satisfaction-based evaluation method for tourism village development, covering rural settlement construction, village esthetics, and economic and social development. “Villager satisfaction” is a crucial indicator obtained by objectifying the subjective opinions of villagers. Finally, the evaluation method was applied in the form of a questionnaire in two villages. The experimental results are correlated with the tourism development patterns of the two villages, verifying the feasibility and effectiveness of the evaluation method. It is expected that this evaluation method will become an effective communication medium between non-professional villagers and the professional tourism development process, thereby promoting the sustainable development of rural areas in the future.