Analyzing Regional Rural Tourism Development with a Cognitive Mapping Approach:the Case of Jiangsu Province,China

摘要

This paper analyzes rural tourism development in Jiangsu province of China by using a cognitive mapping approach.The cognitive maps were elicited by nine focus group interviews in different regions of Jiangsu province.Cognitive maps were analyzed by using Decision Explorer’s functions for domain analysis,loop analysis and cluster analysis.The results indicate different key issues and internal structure of rural tourism system in northern and southern region of Jiangsu province.However,current land use regulation is the common bottleneck to limit rural tourism development for the entire province.