How can leisure agriculture and rural tourism develop in a standardized and orderly way?
With the rapid growth of tourism development, the demand market for leisure agriculture and rural tourism in China is also increasingly strong, and is in a stage of explosive growth. The status of the leisure agriculture and rural tourism industry has become increasingly prominent, and it has risen to a strategic pillar industry of the national economy, with high expectations placed on it at the national level. All localities should take the ecological industry as the foundation, culture as the characteristic, and tourism as the carrier, and build a beautiful economy amid green mountains and clear waters. Leisure agriculture and rural tourism is the process of a differentiated experience in which urban tourists leave home once, arrive at the destination, and then return, with the aim of experiencing a different life and scenery. Therefore, to develop the leisure agriculture and rural tourism industry, it is not enough to have only sightseeing tourism thinking; it is also necessary to think from the perspective of others and pay attention to differentiated experiences, so that farms and parks have something to see, something to play, something to stay in, something to buy, something to eat, something to talk about, something for therapy (convalescence), something for travel (convenient transportation), something to learn (study tours), something to worship (history), something to enjoy, and something to come back for (willingness to return). Only with these "twelve somethings" can the hearts of tourists be moved and the selling points, excitement points, and profit points of the leisure agriculture and rural tourism industry be grasped.
1. Something to see.The purpose of rural tourism is to provide people with an opportunity to understand the countryside, experience farm work, and pursue folk customs. The "scenic spots" it provides are the natural ecology, the rustic, authentic rural scenery, rural sentiment, and rural customs. Everything in a scenic area is landscape. On the basis of the original rural scenery, natural beauty is displayed through arrangement, or through modification and packaging, its characteristics are truly revealed. Whether it is a quiet and beautiful country road, or a lively and bustling small river by the village, or a village house covered with moss but warm and tidy, together with the presentation of regional, distinctly local, and quaint folk customs culture and farming culture, the countryside can satisfy tourists' needs for roaming and enjoying the scenery everywhere.
2. Something to play.Doing farm work provides people with the joy of getting close to nature and experiencing rural life. When designing leisure projects, rural tourism scenic areas generally need to set up simple, natural, lively, interesting, and story-rich farming and folk activities. People who have lived in cities for a long time can participate in them and very easily truly experience the fun and happiness of doing farm work, producing boundless joy while increasing their farming knowledge. Leisure agriculture and rural tourism should creatively develop farming activities with regional characteristics, traditional accumulation, and folk individuality, aimed at the needs and characteristics of different groups and the production and living habits of different seasons and festivals, and determine farming activities with clear themes and prominent highlights.
3. Something to stay in.Accommodation is an important element of rural tourism. The accommodation provided to tourists by rural tourism scenic areas does not need expensive and luxurious hotels; homestays with strong local characteristics are enough. The accommodation environment should be quiet and peaceful, a sleeping space that returns to nature, forming a distinctive sleeping experience. Stay away from factories and processing plants with loud noise, much dust, and large sewage discharge. Housing should be based on simplicity, plainness, brightness, and generosity. Styles can vary, but they must coexist harmoniously with the local architectural style; be connected with the outside nature, conducive to revealing greenery or borrowing scenery to create momentum, achieving a rural realm where opening the window reveals scenery, the eyes meet freshness, and birds sing and flowers are fragrant.
4. Something to buy.Buying agricultural products with the smell of soil is something tourists to rural areas are relatively willing to do. Such local specialties are safe, green, healthy, and nutritious. Efforts should be made to enhance the characteristics of agricultural products, and through a good presentation of the production process, let tourists see for themselves the green, healthy, and other characteristics of the products. Pay attention to graded packaging, so that agricultural products are rustic with taste and healthy with nobility. Enrich the connotations of agricultural products, excavate and endow them with a certain cultural heritage, move tourists to buy and pack them, take them home for family to taste and share or give to relatives and friends, and the brand of the scenic area will be further extended.
5. Something to eat.Farm meals in rural tourism should adhere to the direction and goal of "themed positioning, professional management, distinctive dishes, and quality service." Every rural tourism scenic area restaurant must have a signature dish with the strongest local characteristics, allowing tourists to satisfy their mouths with the taste of pure nature. At the same time, it is also necessary to provide a clean, elegant, and comfortable dining environment, warm and meticulous service, and creative dining methods, achieving loyalty to tradition while surpassing tradition.
6. Something to talk about."See the mountains, see the waters, and remember the nostalgia." This is a requirement put forward by the Central Urbanization Work Conference. The use of such poetic wording leaves a deep impression. So, what is nostalgia? Nostalgia is "the smoke curling up along the tile roofs, the winding mountain road with eighteen bends leading to the doorstep, the glutinous rice balls in mother's hands, and the longan tree in the backyard that never bears fruit." In the vast world, no matter how things change, there is always a sentiment of native land, rural affection, and nostalgia hidden deep in people's blood.
7. Something for therapy.Leisure agriculture and rural tourism should take the countryside as living space, farming, farm affairs, and farm work as the content of life, and agricultural production and rural economic development as life goals, so as to realize a lifestyle conducive to physical and mental health in which tourists feel a return to nature, enjoy life, cultivate body and mind, improve health, treat diseases, and enjoy a long life. In the scenic area, the air is fresh and the environment is beautiful; in the scenic area, the products are natural and the food is green; in the scenic area, labor is moderate and life is rich.
8. Something for travel.When tourists choose rural tourism, they will fully consider whether the scenic area is smooth to enter. When tourists travel in a scenic area, they also care very much about whether they can walk easily and pleasantly while enjoying distinctive ecological scenery and folk customs. The drive into the countryside is generally controlled within 2 hours. At the same time, on both sides of the main roads inside the scenic area, flowers and trees or regional specialty fruits should be planted, which both greening the village roads and turning them into scenery, and can also provide shade or shelter from wind and rain for passing tourists. At the main sections of the scenic area, the intersections of village main roads and village branch roads, or related functional areas, the scenic area's tour maps, signs, or guide boards should be standardized, eye-catching, and beautiful. Overall, the concepts of green, ecology, convenience, and environmental protection should be embedded in the scenic area's travel design, making walking artistic and happy.
9. Something to learn.On the one hand, leisure agriculture and rural tourism can give play to the leisure tourism function of characteristic agriculture and meet people's leisure needs; on the other hand, it can also enhance people's understanding of agriculture, rural areas, and farmers and their cultural experience, achieving the purpose of popular science education. Through careful organization and planning, scenic areas design animal and plant production experience activities, hold popular science activities such as flower arrangement art, bonsai culture, food carving, agricultural and sideline product processing, creative agriculture, folk art, and folk culture festival celebrations, helping tourists better understand ecological agriculture and promoting the development of ecological agriculture.