Recently, the General Office of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the General Office of the National Development and Reform Commission issued the Notice on Carrying out the Construction of the Directory of National Rural Tourism Key Villages.
The notice proposed that key villages of rural tourism should meet the following standards: first, rich cultural and tourism resources, high value of sightseeing and recreation, and clear theme orientation of rural tourism development. Second, the natural ecology and traditional culture are well protected, and the natural ecology, pastoral scenery, traditional villages, historical culture, ethnic culture and other resources are well protected. Third, the development of rural homestay is good, which can rely on the local natural and cultural resources to develop characteristic rural homestay. The homestay products can meet the needs of tourists in the aspects of characteristic catering, cultural experience, leisure and entertainment. Fourth, the tourism product system is mature and of high quality. The mature tourism products with unique styles, such as rural home stay, sightseeing and vacation, farming experience, local food or cultural and creative products, have been developed, which can be combined with local culture and tourism resources to develop tourism products creatively. Fifthly, the infrastructure and public services are relatively complete, with good accessibility and transportation facilities. There are tourist service facilities such as information consulting, smart tourism, tourist recreation and convenience services. The public toilets in the village are reasonably arranged, with eye-catching and beautiful signs, and the rural society is highly civilized. Sixthly, the employment and wealth drive benefits are obvious, which can better absorb the employment of local villagers, and the tourism income benefit linkage mechanism is scientific.
The notice clearly stated that the county (city, district, flag, farm) government, as the applicant, organized villages to fill in the application form, and the municipal cultural and tourism department, together with the development and reform department at the same level, submitted an application to the provincial department. The recommended list should be moderately inclined to the “three districts and three prefectures” and other deep poverty areas. Provincial departments shall determine the recommended list and report it. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism, together with the National Development and Reform Commission, will determine the list of key villages in the national rural tourism directory in the form of holding expert review meetings to evaluate and demonstrate, based on the recommendation of each province. Those listed in the list shall be jointly confirmed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the National Development and Reform Commission, and shall enjoy the relevant national support policies in priority.
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism will rely on resources from tourism planning and construction units, creative design institutions and other parties to support national rural tourism key villages and boutique projects in tourism planning, creative rural areas and other aspects. All regions are encouraged to use various funding channels to support key villages of rural tourism nationwide. (Li Zhigang)