Development of Mountain Tourism in Central Yunnan in the Context of Rural Revitalization Strategy

Jingke YU

1. Institute of Land Resources and Sustainable Development, Yunnan University of Finance and Economics, Kunming 650221, China; 2. Institute of Targeted Poverty Alleviation and Development, Yunnan University of Finance and Economics, Kunming 650221, China

Abstract This paper analyzes the necessity of mountain tourism development in central Yunnan from the aspects of market demand, rural industrial structure optimization demand, characteristic minority culture protection demand, ecological environment protection demand, beautiful rural construction demand and so on. On this basis, against the backdrop of rural revitalization strategy, the path of mountain tourism development in central Yunnan is analyzed.

Key words Rural revitalization, Central Yunnan, Mountain tourism, Development path

1 Introduction

Tourism is a sunrise industry in China, and Yunnan Province directly regards tourism as a pillar industry, and determines the strategic position of tourism in the development of Yunnan’s national economy. According to the statistical analysis of

Statistical

Bulletin

on

National

Economic

and

Social

Development

of

Yunnan

Province

in

2019

, it received 800 million domestic tourists and 1.067 951 trillion yuan in domestic tourism income in 2019, and received 14.849 3 million overseas tourists (including one-day inbound tours), and obtained tourism foreign exchange earnings of 5.147 billion USD and total tourism revenue of 1.103 52 trillion yuan for the whole year. The role of tourism in Yunnan’s economic development has become increasingly prominent. With the development of social economy, people’s spiritual and cultural needs are increasingly diversified, but there are many problems in traditional tourism, such as unattractive content, single mode, and serious commercialization. More and more tourists prefer to be close to nature and desire a relaxed and healthy tourism style. Mountain tourism is a form of modern tourism which takes the natural environment of the mountain as the main carrier of tourism environment, and the complex and changeable mountain landscape and traditional human resources as the main tourism resources to carry out mountain sightseeing, leisure vacation, bodybuilding, entertainment, education, exploration, rock climbing, inspection and other tourism activities. Mountain tourism coincides with people’s desire to return to nature and pursue a healthy and happy life, and has become a hot spot in the development of tourism in China.

In October 2017, the strategy of rural revitalization was put forward for the first time in the report of the 19th CPC National Congress, pointing out that the issue of "agriculture, rural areas and farmers" is the fundamental issue related to the national economy and people’s livelihood and the top priority of the work of the whole Party. It is clearly pointed out that we should give priority to the development of agriculture and rural areas, speed up the modernization of agricultural industry, deepen the structural reform on the supply side of agriculture, and promote the integrated development of primary, secondary and tertiary industries in rural areas. The topography and geomorphology of Yunnan Province are complex, with mountains and plateaus accounting for 94% of the total land area, while flat land dominated by basins and river valleys accounts for only 6%. Central Yunnan is located in the middle of Yunnan, which belongs to the eastern Yunnan plateaus and basins, with complex topography dominated by mountain and intermountain basin. Especially in the basin margin area, there are rich mountain resources and has great potential for development. Based on the advantages of location, mountain resources, comfortable and mild climate and profound historical and cultural heritage in central Yunnan, it is necessary to actively innovate the carrier for the development of mountain tourism, take industry as the core, culture as the soul and tourism as the main line, study mountain tourism, protect mountain resources, inherit mountain civilization, promote mountain economy, and vigorously promote the integrated development of mountain tourism and primary, secondary and tertiary industries, and promote economic and cultural exchanges between urban and rural areas. This is of great significance to solving the problems of agriculture, rural areas and farmers, realizing poverty alleviation by tourism and promoting the revitalization of rural areas.

2 Analysis of the necessity of mountain tourism development in central Yunnan in the context of rural revitalization strategy

Rural revitalization is a national strategy put forward by the CPC Central Committee based on thoroughly solving the problems of agriculture, rural areas and farmers that have plagued China’s economic and social development for a long time, and it is the general starting point of the work of "agriculture, rural areas and farmers" in the new era. It defines the general requirements of industrial prosperity, ecological livability, rural civilization, effective governance and affluent life, including economic, political, cultural, social and ecological revitalization, and is the concrete embodiment of the "five-in-one" overall layout in agriculture and rural areas. The mountain resources in central Yunnan are mainly distributed in the suburban areas and pure rural areas on the edge of the basin. The development of mountain tourism can actively promote the development of rural economy, optimize the rural industrial structure, promote the transmission of characteristic local culture, protect the ecological environment and enhance the level of urban-rural integration, which is one of the effective ways to implement the strategy of rural revitalization.

2.1

Adapting

to

the

changing

needs

of

the

tourism

market

and

promoting

the

development

of

rural

economy

The land area of central Yunnan is 94.56 km, which mainly includes four administrative regions: Kunming City, Qujing City, Chuxiong Prefecture and Yuxi City. The population accounts for about 40% of the province’s total population, and the total economic output accounts for about 60% of the province’s national economy. It is the economic, political, cultural and transportation center of Yunnan Province. With the implementation of the "Belt and Road Initiative" strategy and the construction of the industrial new area in central Yunnan, its development has stepped onto a new level and accelerated. In 2019, the per capita disposable income of residents in central Yunnan reached 22 082 yuan. People’s material living standard is high, people’s spiritual and cultural needs are rich, and they have strong ability and willingness to pay. But the boring reinforced concrete city life, blind development, stereotyped traditional tourism can no longer meet their diversified needs. Being close to nature, being close to green, being close to rural customs, and participating in more experiential mountain tourism are very attractive to them. In addition, this region is the central node of the six major tourism areas in Yunnan Province, and it is a necessary place for domestic and foreign tourists who visit Yunnan, and the market demand for mountain tourism is huge.

According to statistics in October 2019, there were 181 tourist attractions of grade 3A and above in Yunnan Province, and the development of tourism entered a relatively mature level. In this context, there are less than ten scenic spots with mountains as carrier in central Yunnan, such as Kunming Xishan Forest Park, Luoping Duoyihe Scenic Spot, and Tonghai Xiushan, and in some of the developed scenic spots, their own characteristics are not obvious, and the integration of tourism resources is not enough. In a word, the development of mountain tourism in central Yunnan is still relatively weak, which cannot meet the huge demand of tourists for mountain tourism market. Therefore, it is necessary to comply with the trend, fully explore and integrate resources, and reasonably plan and develop the villages in the urban fringe and the mountains in pure rural areas on the edge of the basin according to the current situation of rural development. It is necessary to be pragmatic, take a differentiated competitive route, build brand projects, and improve attractiveness, which not only meets the spiritual needs of the urban population for leisure and vacation, but also promotes the high-quality development of the rural economy to a great extent.

2.2

Meeting

the

needs

of

optimizing

rural

industrial

structure

and

make

full

use

of

labor

resources

The industrial structure in the rural areas of central Yunnan is single (mainly agriculture), the development of secondary and tertiary industries is obviously backward, the scale of the integration of primary, secondary and tertiary industries is small, and agriculture has continued a single production structure for many years. And the rural residents generally have a low level of knowledge and lack innovation ability, resulting in too much rural surplus labor, so agriculture lags far behind other industries. In particular, with the accelerated process of urbanization, a large number of rural labor forces flow to the cities, leaving only a large number of old people and children in rural areas, resulting in rural hollowing-out, more and more backward agricultural development and more and more unreasonable rural industrial structure. Tourism, involving many industries and sectors of the national economy, plays a leading role. In order to meet the needs of tourists for sightseeing, spiritual entertainment and participation experience, the development of mountain tourism can expand the scope of agricultural production and operation, promote the development of agricultural industrialization, and promote the development of traditional agriculture to modern agriculture with high yield, high quality, high efficiency and ecology. It can also promote the development of secondary and tertiary industries such as catering and accommodation, transportation and commodity processing in rural areas around mountainous areas, forming a brand-new industrial chain and industrial organization model. It promotes the diversified development of the rural economy, contributes to the local employment of the rural labor force, promotes the flexible employment of farmers, and solves the problem of the rural surplus labor force to a certain extent. And it can also promote some intellectuals to return home for employment and entrepreneurship with new ideas, new culture and new knowledge, better leading rural construction, and promoting rural development with high quality.

2.3

Meeting

the

needs

of

protecting

the

characteristic

culture

of

ethnic

minorities

,

inheriting

and

carrying

forward

the

excellent

folk

culture

There are many ethnic groups in central Yunnan, such as Han, Miao, Yao, Buyi, Shui, and Mongolian, which not only influence and interact with each other, but also maintain their own national traditions. Their diet, clothing, language, architecture, medicine, religion, ethnic festivals have formed a beautiful and colorful minority culture, including a unique way of life, folk customs and strong regional history and culture. However, most of the ethnic minorities are distributed in the mountain areas, their development is relatively backward, and they have not received due attention for a long time. As a result, many characteristic national cultures have not been well inherited, and some of them are being forgotten or even disappeared in the long history. "Rural style civilization" is the spiritual and cultural guarantee to promote the revitalization of the countryside. To develop mountain tourism, one is to fully tap the excellent traditional culture, protect the characteristic folk culture, and show tourists the historical memories, historical traces and historical culture formed by nature, society and life for thousands of years, so as to greatly enhance the cultural connotation, make tourists fully understand the local folklore and folk custom, and promote the spread and prosperity of excellent rural folk culture. Second, the suburban villages and rural areas on the edge of the mountains are limited by their own conditions, the economic development is relatively backward, and the level of education and culture is generally not high. People’s awareness of cultural inheritance and cultural protection is not aroused, and even if a small number of people are aware of the value of national culture, but because of capacity constraints and lack of systematic inheritance, the role of protection is very weak. Through the development of mountain tourism, it is necessary to promote rural economic development, form cross-regional and cross-level cultural exchanges, constantly improve people’s endogenous motivation, stimulate people’s awareness of protection, and spontaneously form a professional and scientific protection system, and enhance the influence and cohesion of national culture in central Yunnan.

2.4

Meeting

the

needs

of

further

promoting

the

protection

of

the

ecological

environment

and

strengthening

the

construction

of

ecological

civilization

Ecological livability is one of the five major goals of rural revitalization. To build ecologically livable rural areas, we must adhere to the concept of green development, circular development and low-carbon development. Most of the areas with concentrated mountain resources in central Yunnan are remote, the mode of production is backward (mainly traditional agriculture and animal husbandry), and the level of economic and social development is low, which leads to people’s poor awareness of ecological and environmental protection. For a long time, people have felled indiscriminately and the unreasonable use of mountain resources has caused the decline of ecological environment quality, soil fertility loss and even disappearance, which is not conducive to the sustainable development and utilization of mountain resources. And in mountainous and rural areas, there are some bad ways of life, such as stacking of construction waste, pollution of domestic waste, pollution of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and random discharge of domestic sewage. Therefore, protecting mountain resources and promoting the renovation of human settlements and the protection of rural ecological environment have become the focus of the current work. The area of central Yunnan is rich in mountain resources and has strong uniqueness. In view of this advantage, we should respect and conform to nature, plan and develop it reasonably on the basis of mountain texture, background color and structure, and fully develop its scientific value, aesthetic value, historical and cultural value and economic value. The development of mountain tourism, on the one hand, can turn "green mountains and clear waters" into "gold and silver mines", realize poverty alleviation by tourism, directly increase farmers’ income, and change the backward mode of production at the cost of cutting down forests and destroying the environment. With the economic and material foundation, it will stimulate the rural areas to establish a complete infrastructure and a fully functional public service system. And people’s awareness will be established consciously, and they will actively participate in the protection of the ecological environment and the improvement of the living environment, and take the initiative to form a healthy, civilized and positive way of life. Second, the development of mountain tourism is based on mountain resources and environment, and the protection of ecological environment is the premise of the development of mountain tourism. This idea will help to form an external incentive mechanism, promote the efforts of the government, society and residents to strengthen the construction of environmental protection, protect the "clear waters and green mountains" for survival and development, optimize the way of life, and create ecologically livable mountain and rural areas, and promote the development of mountain tourism industry.

2.5

Meeting

the

needs

of

promoting

the

construction

of

beautiful

villages

and

enhancing

the

level

of

urban

-

rural

integration

The city is the main source of mountain tourism, and the development of mountain tourism is the product of the development and growth of the city. The rational development of mountain tourism resources and the development of mountain tourism in central Yunnan can promote the construction of beautiful villages and effectively shorten the distance between the cities in central Yunnan and the suburban villages and rural areas on the edge of the basin. In order to promote mountain tourism with high quality, it is necessary to build a government-guided and market-led multi-supply body to release the great potential of social capital. It is necessary to deeply grasp the characteristics of high contribution rate and strong driving role of tourism, and combine mountain tourism with infrastructure construction, public service system construction, economic construction, cultural construction, ecological civilization construction and spiritual and cultural construction of rural areas in central Yunnan. It is necessary to make overall planning for the development of mountain tourism economy, land use planning, infrastructure construction, and improve the capacity of public services, in order to change the traditional utilization mode of rural resources, promote the development of rural industry, improve the income level of farmers, improve the living environment, improve the quality of farmers, enrich the connotation of spiritual civilization construction, comprehensively promote the construction of beautiful villages, and enhance the level of urban-rural integration.

3 Analysis on the path of mountain tourism development in central Yunnan in the context of rural revitalization strategy

3.1

Strengthening

the

guiding

role

of

the

government

and

rationally

carrying

out

mountain

tourism

planning

Tourism is an industry involving a wide range of areas, which covers six aspects of "food, housing, transportation, tourism, shopping and entertainment". It is highly comprehensive. In order to develop mountain tourism in central Yunnan, on the basis of doing well in the six basic elements and developing traditional tourism, it is necessary to promote the new six elements, including business tourism, health tourism, research tourism, leisure vacation, emotional tourism, new tourism products and new elements for the purpose of exploration. The social coverage is also increasing, and the spatial ecosystem of mountain tourism is relatively fragile. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the guiding role of the government, improve the management mechanism of tourism development, give guidance and control and make reasonable planning. First, it is necessary to take the mountain tourism market as the leading role, actively introduce private assets, improve the management and operation system, establish a good environment for tourism development, standardize market operation, and promote the development of mountain tourism industrialization. Second, in accordance with the regional reality of mountain resources in central Yunnan, it is necessary to deeply understand the background and policy environment of tourism development, carefully analyze the advantages and disadvantages of developing mountain tourism, and carry out reasonable planning, highlight the natural scenery and cultural connotation of the area where the mountain resources are located. Third, we should constantly speed up system innovation, improve the guarantee mechanism for infrastructure construction, and adhere to high standards and high quality to do a good job in the construction and improvement of transportation, accommodation, catering, entertainment and other aspects. Fourth, it is necessary to establish an operating mechanism in line with the development of the rural market, organically combine mountain tourism with rural customs and agricultural production resources, and encourage local farmers and enterprises to actively participate in the planning, and development of mountain tourism, efficiently use idle resources in rural areas, stimulate endogenous power, and vigorously promote the high-quality development of "agriculture, rural areas and farmers".

3.2

Properly

coordinating

the

interests

of

all

parties

and

effectively

protecting

the

interests

of

community

residents

Central Yunnan is based on mountain resources, taking the development of mountain tourism as the engine, and the main purpose is to promote social and economic development, drive the development of suburban villages around the mountains and improve the living standards of rural residents. Mountain tourism resource is a kind of social public resource, and the development of mountain tourism is a project linking many areas, which will involve the core groups including the government, local enterprises and community residents in the areas where the mountain resources are located. It is also closely related to the interests of foreign enterprises, tourists and other groups, and the interest needs of different groups are also different. Therefore, in the process of the development of mountain tourism, it is necessary to establish a reasonable cooperative mechanism to be fair and reasonable, take into account all parties, and properly handle the distribution of interests of various groups. Whether we can properly handle the relationship between the development of mountain tourism resources and the interests of rural residents has a direct impact on the sustainable development of mountain tourism. Therefore, first, it is necessary to make rational planning, improve the scientific nature of planning, strengthen the dominant position of residents in the development of mountain tourism, and establish their dominant position in the process of the development of mountain tourism to ensure that they have the opportunity to obtain benefits in the process of the development and utilization of mountain resources, directly increase their economic income, enhance their subjective initiative, and encourage them to actively participate in all aspects of the development of mountain tourism. The second is to ensure that the communication channels are smooth, so as to ensure that rural residents can have a reasonable voice for their own demands, and ensure that they have the right to speak on the decision-making of mountain tourism development in the areas where they are located. Third, rural residents are a vulnerable group of society, and the government should issue relevant policies, regulations and rules to protect and guarantee the legitimate rights and interests of rural residents in the process of mountain tourism development.

3.3

Cultivating

high

-

quality

professionals

and

actively

introducing

high

-

level

talents

The support of high-quality tourism management talents is one of the driving forces for the sustainable development of tourism. The mountain resources in central Yunnan are mainly distributed in the suburbs and rural areas which are relatively far away from the city. And with the acceleration of urbanization, the rural population continues to "drain". The main labor force is mainly the left-behind elderly, and there are less young adults. Most of them have a low level of education, and the overall quality is not high. At present, this has become a major obstacle to the development of mountain tourism in this region, therefore, we must establish a reasonable planning system, clarify the importance of professional training, and strengthen the strategy of training and introducing excellent high-end talents. First, it is necessary to strengthen training and education and construct rural residents’ emotional identity to mountain tourism resources, so as to make them deeply aware of the profound connotation and practical benefits of developing mountain tourism, and attract some young and middle-aged people to return to their hometown for development, and optimize the structure of rural labor force. Second, according to the characteristics of the mountain resources and the cultural characteristics of ethnic minorities, we should select a group of capable young adults and send them to all kinds of relevant colleges and universities to receive professional knowledge training for mountain tourism talents. It is necessary to organize them to visit and study in scenic spots where the development of mountain tourism is more mature, constantly improve their educational level, professional skills and comprehensive quality, and train them into local tourism professionals who are very familiar with local culture, and train them to become the active driving force for the rural revitalization in the mountainous areas of central Yunnan. Third, with the vigorous development of China’s tourism industry, China’s modern tourism industry has sprung up rapidly, and now it has formed a number of tourism planning and development talents and tourism management talents with high quality and strong ability. In order to develop mountain tourism in central Yunnan, we should also pay attention to the introduction of high-quality talents so as to provide abundant human resources for the development of local mountain tourism.

3.4

Strengthening

regional

cooperation

and

achieving

joint

development

Central Yunnan has the unique geographical advantages of bordering on Guizhou and Guangxi in the east, entering the Central Plains via Sichuan and Chongqing in the north, reaching Thailand and Cambodia in the south, and connecting India and Pakistan in the west. It is an important node of "Belt and Road Initiative" construction strategy and Pan-Pearl River Delta regional cooperation, and has good development opportunities, but if it only depends on the planning area itself, it cannot produce strong tourism attractivity, and it will waste its own good geographical location advantages and a solid foundation for the development of tourism in Yunnan Province. Therefore, the planning and development of mountain tourism in central Yunnan must not be done behind closed doors. First, it is necessary to establish a sound tourism cooperation system and strengthen cooperation with neighboring tourist areas, integrate its mountain tourism resources, cultural advantages of ethnic minorities with provincial, domestic and even international resources, capital, technology, information, talent and market advantages, give full play to the linkage advantages of the region, share regional tourism resources, make rational division of labor, and complement each other’s advantages, thereby realizing the sustainable development of mountain tourism in central Yunnan. Second, we must take an open and socialized development model, actively build a diversified platform for tourism cooperation channels, take central Yunnan as the center, and strengthen close exchanges and extensive communication among the government, tourism enterprises, tourists and other related groups. It is necessary to jointly create a harmonious environment for the development of mountain tourism in central Yunnan and promote the development of mountain tourism in central Yunnan to a new level.

4 Conclusion

In the context of the strategy of rural revitalization, the development of mountain tourism in central Yunnan can promote the omni-directional, wide-ranging and three-dimensional development of economy and society, and is one of the starting points to promote the development of economic transformation. Efforts should be made to take the development of mountain tourism as an effective way to overcome poverty in a decisive battle, constantly improve the utilization efficiency of rural mountain resources, improve the comprehensive quality of farmers, and promote the integrated development of the primary, secondary and tertiary industries in rural areas, in order to effectively solve the problems of agriculture, rural areas and farmers, promote the construction of a new socialist countryside, and take various measures to promote the implementation of rural revitalization.