With the rapid expansion of rural tourism in China, high-quality development has become a key concern for academics and policymakers. Existing studies have focused primarily on economic and industrial growth, with limited attention paid to development quality from the perspective of resident well-being. Using panel data from 30 Chinese provinces from 2012 to 2022, this study establishes a multidimensional evaluation framework for high-quality rural tourism. We employed the entropy weight method, Theil index, and quadratic assignment procedure analysis to examine its level, regional differences, and driving factors. The findings revealed that: (1) the overall level of rural tourism development remained relatively low but rose steadily from 0.064 (2012) to 0.150 (2022) (134.38% cumulative growth), driven by supply-side improvements and demand-side expansion. (2) Pronounced regional inequalities existed: eastern provinces had higher overall levels but larger internal gaps, whereas central/western provinces had lower overall levels but smaller internal differences, with intra-regional disparities accounting for over 66% of the national inequality. (3) The tourism market and transportation were universal key drivers, but the underlying mechanisms differed: the ecological environment exerted greater influence in the east, while public services and living standards were more critical in the central/western regions. By incorporating resident well-being into a systemic analytical framework, this study reconceptualizes high-quality rural tourism as an adaptive socio-ecological system shaped by multilevel interactions among the economy, society, and the environment. The results provide empirical evidence and systemic governance insights for promoting balanced and sustainable rural tourism development.
Sui et al. (Thu,) studied this question.