Study on the rural ecotourism resource evaluation system

• Published in: Environmental technology & innovation 2020-11, Vol.20, p.101131, Article 101131
• Main Authors: Xiang, Chen, Xiao qin, Jiang, Yin, Lu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: AHP; Rural ecotourism; Tourism resource evaluation system
• ISSN: 2352-1864; 2352-1864
• DOI: 10.1016/j.eti.2020.101131

Rural ecotourism has become an important development trend, and it is also an important engine to promote rural revitalization. The focus of rural ecotourism development is to select characteristic tourism resource points. These days in China Tourism Resource Classification, Survey and Evaluation (GB/T18972-2003) is the national standard used to determine the level of rural tourism resources. However, this standard can only provide the types and grades of benchmarking resources mechanically; it cannot determine the value of or give a ranking for the core resource points of rural ecotourism, and has no practical significance for the further development of rural tourism products. At present, the relevant research literature focuses mainly on the economic value of tourism resources and the development strategy and mode of tourism resources, while there is less quantitative analysis of the evaluation of tourism resources elements. Based on a review of relevant literature and an interpretation of China’s national standards, this paper sorts out the core evaluation indicators for rural ecotourism, and constructs an evaluation system of rural ecotourism resources at three levels: target level, factor level and evaluation index level. The importance of each index in the evaluation system is sorted by using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), the Decision Alternative Ratia Evaluation System (DARE) and the Delphi method. The results show that human cultural conditions and natural conditions are the core elements of rural ecotourism resources, and the importance of natural scenery and cultural objects are most prominent. The research results can provide significant evidence and references for the evaluation of characteristic tourism resources and the creation of characteristic tourism products in future rural ecotourism planning. •The paper constructs a rural ecotourism resource evaluation system.•The importance of all indexes are evaluated and rated by AHP, DARE and Delphi method.•Research results of the paper provide significant evidence and reference for the evaluation of characteristic tourism resources in future rural ecotourism planning.