Rural tourism cooperatives lead farmers toward a moderately prosperous life
Recently, 42-year-old Yang Zhibo, a villager of Loushanguan village in Banqiao town, Huichuan district, Zunyi city, Guizhou province, had just received 80 tourists from Chongqing. Before long, a dozen or so tourists who had come as a group showed up at his door. Since his inn was full, he introduced these tourists to other villagers' homes.
Since Banqiao town began developing rural tourism, a rural tourism cooperative has been established here. The cooperative takes on the functions of training farming households and promoting local tourism. At the same time, members of the cooperative cooperate with one another: as soon as one household's guest rooms are full, they refer guests to another household, achieving resource sharing.
Yang Zhibo said: "Summer is the peak tourist season. Many people from Chongqing come here to escape the heat, so business is naturally booming. Including lodging and meals, I can earn several thousand a day!" In Loushanguan village, more than 100 households, like Yang Zhibo, have made money by running rural inns.
Loushanguan village is located to the north of Huichuan district, Zunyi city, at the foot of the red tourism scenic area Loushanguan, 1.5 km from Banqiao town in that district. Even so, in the past the village's more than 1,000 households and more than 3,000 people did not become well-off because of this. They guarded precious resources yet lived in poverty.
As tourism in Guizhou province gradually reaches out to the world, more and more tourists come to Loushanguan. Every day, after tourists from various places finish touring Loushanguan, they all eat a farmhouse meal at some farm restaurant in Banqiao town. This allowed the enterprising people of Loushanguan to find a path to prosperity. Today, direct tourism employment here has reached 300 people. In 2010, Banqiao town received 183,000 visitors for leisure and summer retreats, and received a total of 600,000 sightseeing visitors, achieving annual comprehensive revenue of nearly 35 million yuan. Rural tourism has driven 148 households in Banqiao town to prosperity, with per capita income reaching 8,000 yuan.
Poverty alleviation through tourism has changed the impoverished face of mountain villages and led farmers toward a moderately prosperous life. "Poverty alleviation through tourism is an innovative form of development-oriented poverty alleviation," said Ye Tao, director of the Guizhou Provincial Poverty Alleviation Office. "Tourism is an industry with a high degree of marketization. For every 1 person directly employed, 5 people can be indirectly employed; for every 1 yuan of income increased, 7 to 10 yuan of income can be generated in related industries. By developing tourism in impoverished areas, farmers can increase their income through labor input, tourism services and direct employment." According to relevant data, in 2010, the number of natural villages in Guizhou province carrying out rural tourism exceeded 3,000, generating tourism revenue of 17.8 billion yuan.