Industry convergence in rural tourism development: a China-featured term or a new initiative?

ABSTRACT

Industry convergence is a popular term that has been widely referenced in the context of rural tourism development in China. All levels of government (local, regional, national) in China have repeatedly addressed the significance of industry convergence in their tourism plans and related policies. Despite its popularity, limited studies at present have explored this concept in-depth. Using Huai’an as a case, this study applied a path analysis and reported the industry convergence process in a destination. The findings of this study can provide both theoretical and practical implications that are useful for tourism planners and policy makers.

KEYWORDS:

• Industry convergence
• rural tourism
• innovation
• tourism planning and development
• path

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Huaiyin Normal University: [grant number 13HSQNS14]; National Natural Science Foundation of China: [grant number 41771146]; the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province: [grants number BK20160290] and [grant number 17GLD003]; General Project of the National Social Science Foundation of China: [grants number 18BJY192].