Rural Tourism Elites’ Impact on Tourism Evolution in Ethnic Regions

The elite group is an essential force in rural space production, which plays a non-negligible role in rural development. Amid the backdrop of the rural revitalisation strategy, tourism development in ethnic areas is booming under the guidance of rural tourism elites. Through a series of unstructured and semi-structured interviews, the mechanism of rural tourism elites is explained, and the factors affecting their role are identified based on the destination life cycle theory and push-pull theory. Results show the following: (1) The development of rural tourism has experienced the stages of exploration, involvement, development and consolidation. (2) Rural tourism elites have played leading, coordinating, guiding, and demonstrating roles in different stages of rural development. (3) Rural tourism elites are affected by both push and pull factors in participating in rural tourism. Push factors include personal experience and spiritual quality. Pull factors include government, market, and social network.