A STUDY TO REVIEW THE IMPACT OF RURAL TOURISM ON THE ECONOMY OF RURAL AREAS

Tourism impacts the economy of the rural areas for both good and ill. This study reviews the previous studies on the development of rural tourism and investigates the influence of tourism on the economic condition of rural areas. Generally, improvements in rural livelihood diversity are attributed to most residents utilizing local tourism resources for the tourism industry, thereby boosting local residents’ living standards. However, rural tourism development often induces both positive and negative influences simultaneously. Most rural tourism is planned, designed, and constructed by the operators themselves, so many resources are not used effectively, and disorderly development, repeated construction, and vicious competition appear in varying degrees. Even some places return to poverty because of poor management, which goes against the original intention of rural tourism development and is not conducive to the sustainability of rural tourism economic development. Even the income gap has emerged within the different rural area districts. It’s a pity that such risks, as mentioned above, have not been pondered by many local governments and, indeed, are not reflected in local policies. In addition, practical implications are to be discussed in this paper to enhance tourism sustainable development and ensure the economy of rural areas sustainable development.