Mechanisms to Overcome the Homogenization of Rural Tourism Products and Improve the Competitiveness of Rural Tourist Destinations: A Case Study from China

Abstract

The competitiveness of rural tourism destinations holds significant implications not only for local livelihood sustainability and regional development but also for the preservation and continuity of human civilization. However, developing countries face a critical challenge where rural tourism destination competitiveness is being progressively undermined by the pervasive homogenization of tourism products. The existing literature demonstrates limited engagement with mitigation strategies for tourism product homogenization in examinations of rural destination competitiveness. This study conceptualizes tourism product homogenization as a manifestation of the tragedy of tourism commons, proposing that self-governance can foster rural tourism destination competitive advantages through resolving such collective action dilemmas. Employing a combined IAD-SES framework, the investigation analyzes interview data from Yuanjia Village in Shaanxi Province, China. The analysis delineates how self-governance dynamically enhances and sustains rural tourism destination competitiveness through four institutional mechanisms: provision rules, appropriation rules, monitoring protocols, and sanctioning systems. Furthermore, the findings reveal that the competitiveness driven by self-governance demonstrates the capacity to align individual interests with collective societal benefits. This research contributes to tourism scholarship by identifying novel institutional determinants of tourism destination competitiveness and proposing a policy framework for addressing product homogenization challenges throughout the rural tourism area life cycle.

1. Introduction

The desire to experience the countryside and escape the hustle and bustle of city life has gradually popularized rural tourism all over the world. The term of rural tourism generally refers to tourism activities in rural areas [1,2]. In rural tourism destinations, the countryside serves as the core element that distinguishes these destinations from urban tourism environments; it is perceived as a rural idyll or a nostalgic retreat [3]. Both in developed and developing countries, tourism improves the economy, social structure, environment, and culture of rural areas [4,5,6,7].

A rural tourism destination refers to a geographical location within non-urbanized areas, characterized by natural landscapes, cultural heritage, and rural amenities, which attracts visitors seeking authentic rural experiences. Competitiveness refers to the unique and irreplaceable ability of market entities that cannot be replicated by other competitors. Therefore, the competitiveness of rural tourism destinations refers to the ability of such a destination to develop, meet the needs of tourists, and bring improvements to the rural economy, society, and environment based on its unique resources [8]. A strong competitiveness of rural tourism destinations is related to not only the livelihood and development of the residents of rural areas but also the inheritance of human civilization and the continuation of its extensive history [9]. However, the competitiveness of rural tourism destinations is influenced by multiple factors, among which the homogenization of tourism products emerges as a critical concern [10]. Tourism product homogenization refers to the convergence of content, formats, and service offerings among rural tourism operators, ultimately eroding product differentiation. In competitive markets, uniquely differentiated tourism products can capture consumer attention through distinctive features, thereby enhancing tourism destination competitiveness [11,12]. Conversely, homogenized products create a “sea of sameness”, struggling to distinguish themselves in crowded market spaces. This not only fails to meet tourists’ personalized demands but also triggers chaotic market competition among providers, significantly undermining the socioeconomic benefits that rural tourism aims to generate [13]. Empirical evidence from China underscores this issue: approximately 70% of rural tourism projects exhibit striking similarities in thematic design, while 68% of rural festivals demonstrate remarkable content replication [14]. Such systemic homogenization exerts negative spillover effects on regional development. A case study of ancient town tourism reveals that despite nationwide efforts to replicate this product category—with over 10,000 similar destinations developed—fewer than 10% achieve operational sustainability [15,16]. This not only represents a massive waste of limited rural development resources but also diminishes destination appeal and exhausts the momentum for sustainable rural transformation. The aforementioned analysis demonstrates that addressing product homogenization constitutes a pivotal strategy for elevating rural tourism competitiveness.

Theoretically, the homogenization phenomenon can be regarded as a manifestation of the tragedy of tourism commons. The foundation of rural tourism development is rural tourism commons, which is represented by common pool resources [10]. These common resources can be both tangible ecological environmental resources and natural resources, as well as intangible public value space provided by regional culture. From the perspective of regional culture, rural tourism products can obtain value based on regional culture. However, the regional culture itself is not exclusive; therefore, the value it can provide decreases with the increasing availability of homogeneous products. In other words, people’s production of homogeneous tourism products is equivalent to the constant depletion of the common value of rural regional culture. As a result, with the proliferation of homogeneous tourism products, regional culture no longer carries its unique competitiveness. This means that its common value has been exhausted, showing a clear phenomenon of the tragedy of the tourism commons.

So far, existing research on the competitiveness of rural tourism destinations has mostly focused on the influencing factors of tourism competitiveness, the evaluation of comprehensive index systems, and mechanism research to enhance competitiveness [17,18,19,20]. However, in practice, the conclusions of these studies are not sufficient to alleviate the dilemma of declining rural tourism competitiveness caused by product homogenization. Relevant studies rarely focus on the impact of the tragedy of the commons in rural tourism caused by product homogenization on the competitiveness of rural tourism destinations. At the same time, the literature on governing the tragedy of the commons in rural tourism indicated that the establishment of self-governance institutions is a feasible way to address this issue [21]. Ostrom (1990) defined self-governance as a collective action emerging from stakeholder groups addressing common issues through self-coordinated organization and internal decision-making processes, expressly without relying on external coercive interventions or delegated agency mechanisms [22]. In this regard, the existing literature also provides little systematic discussion on whether the establishment of self-governance institutions can affect the competitiveness of rural tourism destinations.

Given this context, this study addresses the following research questions: (1) Can self-governance institutions help rural tourism destinations to overcome the dilemma of product homogenization and ultimately enhance their competitiveness? (2) How do self-governance institutions influence the alleviation of product homogenization in rural tourism destinations, and through what mechanisms can these institutional arrangements enhance destination competitiveness? It should be noted that tourism destinations can refer to cities, towns, or villages. However, since Ostrom’s self-governance theory primarily addresses self-governance within small-scale, enclosed systems—such as governance within a single village—this study’s discussion on the impact of self-governance institutions on rural tourism destination competitiveness follows current international conventions in applying self-governance theory. Specifically, we limit our scope to governance systems at the village level, focusing on how self-governance institutions can enhance the competitiveness of village-type tourism destinations by overcoming the homogenization of tourism products within the village itself. To address this question, this study systematically elaborates on the crucial role of self-governance institutions in the development and sustainment of rural tourism competitiveness. This elaboration is based on an economic model that incorporates both traditional agricultural and rural tourism sectors. A combined Institutional Analysis and Development and Social-Ecological Systems framework is employed that is commonly used in the field of institutional analysis. Furthermore, a case study of Yuanjia Village, Shaanxi Province, China, is conducted to present and demonstrate the specific mechanisms through which self-governance institutions promote the competitiveness of rural tourism.

This study found that self-governance institutions can mitigate homogenization issues in rural tourism destinations through four rule mechanisms: provision, appropriation, monitoring, and sanctioning, thereby enhancing their competitiveness. Based on this understanding, this study potentially introduces managerial or theoretical contributions in three aspects: Firstly, it explores the application of self-governance institutions to address the decline in tourism destination competitiveness due to product homogenization, examining new factors influencing the competitiveness of rural tourism destinations from an institutional perspective. Secondly, while existing research on enhancing rural tourism competitiveness often focuses on the perspective of tourists in both theoretical and practical considerations, this study provides guidance for relevant practices and policy formulations aimed at boosting tourism destination competitiveness by emphasizing the organization of local villagers. Lastly, based on an institutional analysis framework, this study dissects the changes in deadweight loss within traditional economics, proposing the viewpoint that institutional design can achieve a win–win situation for both individual profit-seeking and social welfare.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Research on Tourism Destination Competitiveness

In economics, competitiveness is defined as the capacity of organizations or entities to design, produce, and deliver marketable products, enabling the associated products to attain greater attractiveness compared to competitors’ offerings [23]. Some scholars also regarded competitiveness as an effort to achieve sustainable profitability [24,25]. However, compared with tangible physical goods, tourism is a complex intangible commodity that involves factors such as economics, politics, society, culture, the environment, and tourism demand. As a result, destination competitiveness cannot be simplistically explained from an economic perspective. Consequently, to define the competitiveness of tourism destinations, various researchers have also attempted to explore it from the perspectives of resource conservation [26,27], market [28,29,30], management [31,32,33], social relations [34], and other new perspectives. Consensus among scholars suggests that tourism destination competitiveness can be summarized as the capacity of destinations to consistently deliver satisfactory tourist experiences while continuously improving the quality of life for residents and enhancing the welfare of other stakeholders. Such competitiveness is typically manifested through market share comparisons among destinations targeting common consumer segments and variations in tourism revenue levels.

The discussions among scholars regarding the concept of tourism destination competitiveness have also led to a systematic synthesis of the factors influencing this competitiveness. Firstly, the natural resources possessed by a rural area are a key factor determining whether a destination is competitive. Research has indicated that undisturbed natural resources in remote rural areas, such as rivers, ponds, lakes, forests, vegetation, wildlife, sea views, biodiversity, and soil geology, often strongly attracting urban tourists [35,36]. Therefore, the competitiveness of a certain destination can be enhanced by adapting to the resources and attractions of the destination [37,38]. At the same time, destinations lacking such undisturbed natural resources struggle to compete with those boasting abundant natural attractions [39,40]. Secondly, the cultural heritage of traditional ancient villages is one of the factors attracting tourists. Cultural heritage, formed and preserved through long-term practical activities, represents a unique identity or memory of a place [41,42]. The original rural lifestyle and cultural festivals greatly contribute to the competitiveness of rural tourism destinations [4,42,43]. Finally, rural tourism cannot be separated from the participation of governments, tourism enterprises, communities, villagers, and effective cooperation among them [5,44]. In general, the government creates an economic environment, provides an overall regulatory framework for tourism operations, and plays a key role in planning, managing, and promoting the tourism industry [45,46,47]. The government also plays the role of a coordinator in the development of rural tourism destinations, as it actively participates in coordination efforts to ensure a balance between short-term interests and long-term goals, thereby maintaining the competitiveness of the destination [48]. Tourism enterprises may possess more operational experience and knowledge than the villagers at the destination [49,50], as well as more abundant investment funds. Without an efficient tourism enterprise to organize and coordinate this experience and knowledge, it would be difficult for a destination to maintain sustainable competitiveness [23,51]. At the same time, numerous studies have shown that small tourism companies and entrepreneurs play a vital role in the development and operation of destinations [52,53]. Furthermore, from the perspective of community participation, certain scholars argued that both the attitude and level of participation of the community towards tourism development affect the development of destination competitiveness [5,54,55]. From the perspective of individual farmer participation in the community, other scholars argued that farmers can also contribute substantially to enhancing the competitiveness of rural tourism [56,57].

2.2. Research on Tourism Product Homogenization

A tourism destination capable of sustainable development must transition from scale expansion to high-quality growth to cultivate unique competitiveness in the tourism market [58]. However, as the number of rural tourism destinations continues to increase, distinguishing between them becomes increasingly challenging [40,59]. Haphazard development and formulaic commercial operations have resulted in highly homogenized tourism products, including identical project formats, similar scenic landscapes, and comparable service standards [60,61,62]. The singularity of development entities, operational models, and management approaches further exacerbates the lack of distinctive characteristics among rural tourism destinations, leading to the gradual dilution of their unique identities [63,64]. Product homogenization in rural tourism has compromised the preservation of distinctive landscapes and cultural heritage, while underdeveloped historical resources have failed to contribute to sustainable competitiveness [64]. Ultimately, many rural tourism destinations face a decline due to their inability to maintain uniqueness in an increasingly homogeneous market [65].

2.3. Research on Self-Governance Institutions

The tragedy of the commons remains one of the most significant challenges confronting humanity since its conceptualization [66,67]. Beyond privatization and centralized government control, Ostrom’s institutional design of self-governance has emerged as a promising solution to mitigate this global issue [68,69]. Resource owners can achieve shared access and sustainable utilization of public resources through contractual agreements or rule-based frameworks [69,70]. Extensive empirical evidence demonstrates the efficacy of self-governance institutions in addressing traditional commons tragedies, exemplified by sustainable management in forests [71,72], pastures [73], fisheries [74,75], and irrigation commons [76,77,78,79,80]. Building on the tragedy of the commons framework, Healy (1994) pioneered the application of common pool resources concepts to tourism by examining alpine meadows in Swiss towns, and revealed that tourist commons experience overuse, insufficient investment incentives, and systemic governance failures during development, culminating in tragic Hardin-like outcomes [81]. Subsequently, Su et al. (2022, 2024) [9,21] extended Ostrom (1990)’s [22] theoretical foundations on self-governance and Healy (1994)’s [81] concept of tragedy of tourism commons to systematically investigate the critical role of self-governance in alleviating tourism commons tragedies.

2.4. Summary of the Literature

Existing research has shown that the evolution of the competitiveness of rural tourism is not a closed and stable process but rather a dynamic development process. There are still several areas in the existing research that merit further exploration. Firstly, there are few studies that discuss the competitiveness of rural tourism destinations from a governance perspective; consequently, insufficient attention has been directed to how institutional arrangements that promote cooperation between rural residents can shape the process of rural tourism destination competitiveness. Secondly, research on the competitiveness of rural tourism destinations focused more on how government, companies, and tourists impact the competitiveness of rural tourism; however, studies discussing the competitiveness of rural tourism destinations from the perspective of rural residents are rare. Moreover, although existing research has theoretically established, the relationship between community participation and the competitiveness of rural tourism destinations, there is still a lack of applicable analytical frameworks. Thirdly, the existing research on the homogenization of rural tourism products in developing countries provides little discussion, which makes it impossible to propose targeted solutions to the problem of rural tourism development in this context.

3. Theoretical Analysis

3.1. The Essence of Tourism Product Homogenization: The Tragedy of Tourism Commons

The tragedy of the commons originates from the non-excludability of resource systems, enabling unrestricted access to resource units, which drives individual actors to deplete resources rapidly under profit maximization motives [82]. Grounded in this framework, this study posits that tourism product homogenization fundamentally constitutes another manifestation of the tragedy of the commons. Rural tourism development predominantly relies on inherent resource endowments, such as scenic landscapes and unique cultural identities [4,43,83]. These resource systems—whether ecological or social—are characterized by openness and non-excludability. These non-excludability characteristics are present not only in physical accessibility (e.g., sightseeing, tasting) but also in value appropriation (e.g., experiential enjoyment). Consequently, tourism product homogenization emerges as a form of commons tragedy in the value dimension. Specifically, the non-excludability of tourism resource systems allows countless homogeneous operators to enter the market without incurring significant exclusion costs for competitors. When all producers continuously generate standardized products, they essentially compete for finite value units within the tourism product’s value space. Given the low-profit margins of homogeneous products, operators resort to scale expansion to maximize individual gains—a process analogous to unregulated appropriation in commons tragedies. This exploitation depletes the value units in tourism products’ value space, leading to tangible outcomes such as declining consumer evaluations, reduced willingness-to-pay, and diluted destination identities [84,85].

Theoretically, this aligns with Hardin’s (1968) [82] assertion that unchecked resource consumption in commons systems inevitably results in collective loss. Empirically, it resonates with Ostrom’s (1990) [22] findings on institutional failures in managing common-pool resources, where fragmented governance structures exacerbate homogenization risks.

3.2. Solutions to Tourism Product Homogenization: Cultivating Differentiated Competitiveness in Rural Tourism

Overcoming the homogenization of rural tourism products fundamentally involves enabling these products to attain differentiated competitiveness. Classical microeconomic theory indicates that if operational entities can conduct business at a price elasticity of demand greater than 1, they can achieve differentiated competitiveness [86]. Translating this to the rural tourism context implies that producers must possess monopoly pricing power in the market. As illustrated in Figure 1, this manifests as producing Q* units of goods at price level P*, exceeding the equilibrium price p⁰. For rural tourism producers, achieving this monopoly pricing authority through product differentiation represents a feasible strategy to cultivate differentiated competitiveness.

A critical question arises: Does differentiation-induced monopoly necessarily result in social welfare losses? Figure 1 demonstrates that if the marginal cost curve rotates counterclockwise around point A to align vertically with the horizontal axis at MC*, rural tourism products can achieve both profit maximization for producers and eliminate social welfare losses. Thus, when the marginal cost curve shifts from MC to MC*, rural tourism products exhibit uniqueness and welfare benefits as dual characteristics of differentiated competitiveness.

3.2.1. Uniqueness

When the marginal cost curve MC* of rural tourism products becomes vertical to the horizontal axis in Figure 1, the supply of these products exhibits perfect inelasticity relative to price. This characteristic reflects the quantity of rural tourism products remaining fixed at the profit-maximizing level Q*, regardless of whether market prices are high or low. This “limited supply” dynamic—where production quantities do not respond to price fluctuations—endows rural tourism products with irreplaceability and non-replicability, constituting their core uniqueness. In practical terms, unique rural geographical cultures serve as one of pivotal sources of this differentiation. Natural environmental disparities inherently foster distinctive regional cultures, which manifest as historically rooted cultural expressions of traditional settlements. As localized knowledge systems and cultural representations, these regional cultures form the original source of rural cultural uniqueness. Therefore, geographically embedded cultural assets emerge as monopolistic resources with irreplaceable competitive advantages for rural tourism [43,87,88].

3.2.2. Welfare Benefits

The rotation of the marginal cost curve from MC to MC* in Figure 1 corresponds to a continuous reduction in social welfare losses (represented by the diminishing of the boldly shaded area). When the marginal cost curve aligns vertically with the horizontal axis at MC*, social welfare losses are entirely eliminated. In economics, social welfare loss denotes a state where consumers are unable to purchase desired goods, and producers cannot produce optimal outputs. This translates to real-world manifestations of homogenization in rural tourism products:

• Producer Surplus Loss: Producers’ decisions to imitate competitors and produce homogeneous products diverts resources from differentiated production. This results in the underproduction of unique products, causing losses in producer surplus.
• Consumer Surplus Loss: The overproduction of homogeneous products diminishes consumers’ valuation of differentiation, preventing them from achieving expected utility. This leads to erosion of consumer surplus.

If these kinds of arrangements can mitigate these surplus losses, rural tourism production can achieve both differentiated competitiveness and socially beneficial outcomes.

3.3. Overcoming Tourism Product Homogenization: Mechanisms Under Self-Governance Institution

The critical question remains: When aiming to overcome tourism product homogenization, how can we promote the counterclockwise rotation of rural tourism products’ marginal cost curves (as depicted in Figure 1) to realize both uniqueness and welfare benefits in differentiated competitiveness? This study continues to examine this through the lens of the commons. Specifically, the uniqueness of rural tourism competitiveness originates from endowment such as regional cultures, which emerge from people’s use of common resources in rural areas. However, extensive research and empirical observations reveal that common resource utilization often leads to overconsumption and eventual tragedy of the commons. In response, Ostrom (1990) demonstrated that self-governance institutions can enhance common resource protection by fostering cooperative behaviors [22]. Furthermore, Ostrom (2005) emphasized that the complexity of human societies necessitates diverse institutional arrangements for governing common resources, thereby giving rise to distinct regional cultures [89]. Thus, better-protected common resources cultivate unique regional cultures, incentivizing producers to invest in differentiated tourism products based on cultural assets while displacing homogeneous competitors from the market. This “good money drives out bad money” process ultimately aligns the marginal cost curves in Figure 1 with producer profit maximization levels and achieves market equilibrium between supply and demand. Building on Su and Li’ s (2022) research, this study argues that self-governance institution resolve tourism commons tragedies and leverage regional cultural development through four core rules: provision, appropriation, monitor, and sanction [9]. These mechanisms collectively advance both welfare benefits and uniqueness, ultimately fostering differentiated competitiveness in rural tourism.

Appropriation rules govern the negotiation and agreement on timelines, locations, technologies, and quantities for public resource use, establishing exclusionary frameworks to prevent disorderly and excessive resource consumption. Within self-governance institutions, these rules delineate who may access resources and how they should utilize them, thereby curbing homogeneous production behaviors in rural tourism. Allying with monitor and sanction mechanisms, appropriation rules exclude producers attempting to replicate standardized products, safeguarding the uniqueness of rural tourism offerings. This ensures the differentiation competitiveness of rural tourism while resolving producer and consumer surplus losses caused by homogenization.

On this basis, provision rules serve as negotiated agreements established to prevent the tragedy of the commons. Within self-governance institutions, these rules enable producers to collaboratively safeguard the public value space of rural tourism products. Allying with monitor and sanction mechanisms, producers ensure the enforcement of these collectively devised regulations. This shared agreement on how to utilize the public value space of tourism products enables producers to supply previously undersupplied differentiated products. Consequently, consumers gain access to desired differentiated offerings, ultimately realizing the welfare-oriented characteristics of rural tourism competitiveness. This process can also be represented in Figure 1. By restricting producers to specific resources (e.g., culturally embedded assets) and prohibiting others, self-governance rules ensure that only differentiated products are produced. This reduces homogeneous output from Q⁰ (under monopolistic competition) to Q* (under differentiated monopoly), as illustrated in Figure 1. By reallocating resources from homogeneous to differentiated production, producers eliminate surplus losses arising from the underproduction of unique items. Meanwhile, when culturally distinct products (e.g., those reflecting irreplaceable regional cultures) replace homogeneous alternatives, consumers gain access to more desirable differentiated offerings. This addresses consumer surplus loss by fulfilling demand for unique experiential values, thereby restoring market equilibrium between supply and demand.

3.4. Analytical Framework

As can be seen from the preceding analysis, the four rules of provision, appropriation, monitor, and sanction contained within a self-governance institution promote the formation of welfare-oriented and unique differentiated competitiveness in rural tourism products. The process from institutional design of self-governance to continuous implementation of rules by people and, finally, to the formation of differentiated competitiveness occurs over a period of time. To analyze how self-governance institutions address the tragedy of the commons across different time periods, scholars specializing in institutional analysis have developed the combined Institutional Analysis and Development-Social Ecological Systems (IAD-SES) framework to deal with the scenario [90,91].

The combined IAD-SES framework integrates the characteristics of two major analytical frameworks from the second-generation collective action theory, serving as a general framework for dynamic diagnosis of social-ecological systems. The Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework, as a general analytical tool, functions as a universal language for theoretical and empirical research across policy fields. It includes action arenas, interaction patterns, outputs, and evaluations of outputs [92], and can be regarded as a dynamic process.

However, the IAD framework pays insufficient attention to biophysical attributes. Therefore, Ostrom (2009) developed the Social–Ecological Systems (SES) framework based on IAD, which is a decomposable system [93]. Depending on research questions, variables in this framework can be vertically or horizontally decomposed, analyzed from top to bottom and inside out. The SES framework comprises six subsystems: resource system (RS); resource unit (RU); governance system (GS); actors (A); social, economic, and political settings (S); and related ecosystems (ECO). Each subsystem contains secondary or tertiary variables, and researchers can further develop third- or fourth-level variables as needed. These variables collectively influence interactions and outcomes in specific action contexts while being directly affected by these interactions and outcomes. This framework logically addresses commons governance issues by selecting appropriate variables for analysis in different regions and contexts. Nevertheless, while SES emphasizes the role of biophysical attributes, it examines resource states at static single time points.

Thus, the IAD framework is vague but dynamic, whereas the SES framework is fine-grained but static [93]. By integrating the strengths and addressing the weaknesses of both frameworks, the combined IAD-SES framework emerges. This framework serves as a dynamic tool for identifying and diagnosing multi-layered social–ecological systems. It not only reflects the differential impacts of complex factors in social–ecological systems on institutional processes but also dynamically presents the outcomes of institutional actions.

This study posits that the four rules of provision, appropriation, monitor, and sanction in self-governance institution drive the formation of welfare-oriented and unique differentiated competitiveness in rural tourism products. Meanwhile, Su et al. (2022) [9] argue that interactions within action arenas in the combined IAD-SES framework can be measured through changes in these four rules. Based on this, this study further modifies the IAD-SES framework for rural tourism contexts (as shown in Figure 2) and lists the second-level variables applicable to this study’s analysis in Appendix A.1.

4. Research Design

4.1. Case Selection: Yuanjia Village, Shaanxi Province, China

Yuanjia Village is a famous tourist village located in the northwest of China, belonging to Yanxia Town, Liquan County, Xianyang City. The village covers an area of 0.4 km², presenting stepped terrain from the northern mountains to the southern plains. The uniqueness of Yuanjia Village is based on the square south-facing layout of residential buildings and the northwestern folk culture, forming a natural tourism community in Yuanjia Village. The cuisine, festivals, and various tourism products attract many people to visit Yuanjia Village for experiences and food consumption.

The reason why Yuanjia Village was chosen as the object of this case study is that, on the one hand, Yuanjia Village has experienced three stages of homogenization of tourism products throughout its development process: the first stage was the homogenization of physical forms of rural tourism products; the second stage was the homogenization of the value space of rural tourism products; and the third stage included the comprehensive homogenization of physical form homogenization and value space homogenization. At the same time, Yuanjia Village has achieved the response to the homogenization of tourism products in different stages through the continuous promotion of the reform of the independent governance institutions. On the other hand, existing research has also fully reflected the characteristics of Yuanjia Village in terms of rural tourism destination competitiveness, institutional changes in self-governance, and staged tourism development [9,94]. In summary, the development process of Yuanjia Village itself and the many studies focusing on its self-governance institution and tourism destination competitiveness have fully demonstrated the excellent suitability of Yuanjia Village for this study. Yuanjia Village is an outstanding sample for observing the interrelationship between self-governance institution, tourism product homogenization, and rural tourism destination competitiveness.

4.2. Survey Methods and Data Collection

To investigate the institutional factors influencing the tourism development process in Yuanjia Village, our research team conducted six field visits to the village over a six-year period (July 2018, October 2018, January 2020, May–June 2021, and June 2024). Through these visits, we accumulated 41 in-depth interviews (comprising 5 structured interviews and 36 semi-structured interviews) while integrating participatory observation to collect relevant data and documentary materials. The structured interviews targeted village leadership members, focusing on institutional transformation trajectories in rural tourism development. The semi-structured interviewees comprised three distinct groups: foreign merchants and employees (n = 28), collaborative managers (n = 6), and local villagers (n = 7). To ensure methodological diversity, our sampling strategy employed both snowball sampling and purposive sampling techniques. This was facilitated through consultation with village administrators, who provided recommendations regarding potential interviewees, particularly cooperative directors, enterprise proprietors, and community residents [9].

During the interview process, our research team conducted systematic thematic analysis of interview transcripts in real-time. As data collection progressed, key concepts and thematic patterns emerged consistently and stabilized [95]. Theoretical saturation was reached when no new conceptual insights or themes emerged from the 26th interview [96]. However, to fully capture the multi-stage development trajectory of Yuanjia Village, our team ultimately conducted 41 in-depth interviews and a further 33 cursory interviews for consideration. Participant selection adhered to two prerequisite criteria: (1) continuous involvement in tourism industry development for over three years and (2) demonstrating a comprehensive understanding of the village’s tourism evolution process. The final sample comprised 39 males (52%) and 36 females (48%), with complete demographic characteristics presented in Appendix A.2. Sample heterogeneity was ensured through dual sampling strategies: First, purposive sampling identified five core informants with exceptional knowledge about village development. Subsequently, maximum variation sampling was employed to recruit respondents representing diverse professional durations (ranging from 3 to 15 years), occupational categories (tourism operators, service providers, business owners), and stakeholder positions (villagers, managers, external investors) [97]. This sequential approach enabled systematic coverage of both longitudinal developmental stages and multidimensional perspectives within the study population.

Moreover, to ensure diversity among samples, the research team relied on village leaders’ recommendations, assistance, and connections to access interviewees, cooperative managers, business owners, and villagers through a snowball sampling approach. Most respondents had been involved in tourism development for more than five years, providing a solid foundation of knowledge on the basic situation of Yuanjia Village’s rural tourism development.

4.3. Data Analysis

Data collection was conducted by four researchers systematically trained in qualitative research methodologies. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim using NVivo 12 software for triple-level coding: initial concepts were extracted through open coding, followed by axial coding to establish categories, and ultimately culminating in the distillation of core categories [98]. Specifically, during open coding, interview transcripts underwent iterative re-reading to achieve deep interpretive engagement with respondents’ perspectives. This involved identifying equivalent meanings across narratives, implementing line-by-line coding to construct conceptual categories. This systematic analytical process not only facilitated comprehensive data comprehension but also revealed second-order variable relationships within interactive contexts of action settings under the combined IAD-SES framework.

Based on open coding, the combined Institutional Analysis and Development and Social-Ecological Systems framework shown in Figure 2 was further combined with the work of Strauss and Corbin (1990) to conduct main axis coding [99] similar concepts were integrated with reference to Kettleborough et al. (2013) [100] The framework was divided into three parts based on the work of Strauss and Corbin (1998) [101]: First, conditions refer to the environment or situational structure in which the research phenomenon occurs. The codes for these components are RS3, RS5, RU2, RU 4, A2, A3, A6, GS3, GS5, and GS6, as illustrated in

Table A1. Social–ecological system variables at the second and third levels.

Resource System (RS)	Resource Unit (RU)	Governance System (GS)	Actor (A)	Scenario Interaction (IAS)
RS1: Department	RU1: Resource unit mobility	GS1: Government organization	A1: Organization size	IAS1: Rule-making
RS2: Clear boundaries	RU2: Replacement rate	GS2: Non-governmental organization	A2: Socioeconomic attribute	IAS2: Appropriation
RS3: Size	RU3: Mutually	GS3: Network structure	A3: Usage history	IAS3: Provision
RS4: Infrastructure	RU4: Economic value	GS4: Property right system	A4: Location	IAS4: Monitoring
RS5: Productive forces	RU5: Size	GS5: Operation selection rule	A5: Leader	IAS5: Sanction
RS6: Balance attribute	RU6: Unique mark	GS6: Collective selection rule	A6: Social capital	IAS6: Welfare
RS7: Predictability	RU7: Be distributed	GS7: Constitutional choice rule	A7: Social–ecological system knowledge	IAS7: Uniqueness
RS8: Storage capacity		GS8: Monitoring and sanctions rules	A8: Resource dependence
RS9: Location			A9: Technology use

in Appendix A. Second, interaction/action refers to the strategic response of the subject to a theme, event, or issue. The coding of these components is reflected in the action scenarios of IAS1–IAS7, as shown in Appendix A.1. Third, consequences are the results of interactions/actions. The coding of these events is specified by RS3, RS5, RU2, RU4, A2, A3, A6, GS3, GS5, and G S6, as shown in Appendix A.1. Therefore, the open code of the tourism development situation is assigned to 10 main axis codes; the open code of the interaction between tourism participants is assigned to 6 main axis codes; and the open code of the tourism development results is assigned to 10 main axis codes.

In the selective coding stage, according to the theory of Glaser (1998) [102], pre-integration coding is integrated into high-level abstract categories to form four dimensional codes for tourism destination competitiveness, participant interaction, and competitiveness results. According to Koc and Boz (2014), the research team ultimately enhanced the reliability of the study through triangulation [103]. Two experts specializing in institutional research were invited to independently code the interview transcripts, achieving a 90% or higher agreement rate. Discrepancies in coding were resolved through discussion to ensure consistency, in accordance with Nowell et al. (2017) [104].

5. Case Findings

5.1. First Stage: Loss of Competitiveness Because of Tourism Product Homogenization

In the 1970s, Yuanjia Village was a well-known impoverished area, presenting a bleak picture: dark houses, dimly lit from oil lamps, farmland lacking the assistance of oxen, grain heavily reliant on external aid, and dwellings that were damp and dilapidated. After setbacks in the collective economy and village-run enterprises, Yuanjia Village finally witnessed a turning point in 2007, when Guo Zhanwu, the son of the village secretary, led the village on a decisive path towards rural tourism transformation. Initially, the tourism public resources of Yuanjia Village were like an open treasure trove, freely exploited by all. At this time, the pressure on tourism resources was relatively light, and villagers enjoyed unrestrained freedom in utilizing this tourism commons.

Subsequently, Guo Zhanwu actively sought out skilled artisans from the surrounding areas and encouraged them to display their exquisite craftsmanship in the streets and alleys of Yuanjia Village, ultimately fostering the bustling Kangzhuang Old Street and attracting a wave of tourists from neighboring regions. With the continuous growth of tourist flows, agritainment flourished, fueled by a constant stream of visitors at their doors. Driven by economic interests and as rational economic decision-makers, villagers eagerly joined the tide of tourism services. However, in this process, because of the increasing homogeneity of tourism products, as well as their lack of individuality and innovation, Yuanjia Village gradually faced a dual decline in attractiveness and competitiveness. The phenomenon of homogenization began to erode its original charm and advantages.

“The dishes served in agritainments are all specialties of our northern Shaanxi region, and every household knows how to make them. With the increasing number of tourists in the village, everyone wants to open an agritainment business to make money”. (13, Agritainment operator)

“In 2007, there were only two agritainments in Yuanjia Village, but by 2010, the number had increased to 39”. (05, Village committee Director)

During this stage, the tourism commons were open for use without corresponding rules in place that would have regulated villagers’ tourism development activities. Moreover, the houses and land available for agritainment were almost exhausted, posing four challenges to the tourism development of Yuanjia Village: Firstly, resource units in the tourism commons were overused. Perceiving the profitability of operating agritainments, more and more villagers began to do so, thereby blindly increasing the numbers of agritainments offering monotonous and repetitive dishes. As a result, the tourist products and services offered by these inns, namely northern Shaanxi-style agritainment meals, gradually lost their appeal to modern tourists who seek novelty. The unrestrained and open-ended exploitation of tourism resources led to the homogenization of agritainments, which excessively depleted the value imparted by the northern Shaanxi folk culture to the meals served. Secondly, there was no oversight over tourism development activities, such as the establishment of agritainment organizations. Without knowing any better, the village committee did not control the number of agritainment businesses, allowing homogenized products to continuously erode the unit value of the tourism commons. Thirdly, no sanctioning was in place for tourism development behaviors, allowing anyone to exploit the tourism commons for their own development without concern for quality, efficiency, or order. In summary, because of the unorderly occupation of public cultural values, the absence of monitoring, and a lack of sanctioning, the first stage of rural tourism development in Yuanjia Village was plagued by the dilemma of the homogenization of tourist products and services.

Every household opened an agritainment business, offering the same dishes and services, resulting in the misallocation of production resources intended for differentiated products and services towards the production of homogenized products and services. Moreover, homogenized products gradually diminished visitors’ experience of this tourist destination, leading to a welfare loss. Specifically, providers of tourist products and services failed to produce the differentiated offerings they intended, while tourists failed to consume these offerings, resulting in poor experiences and declining loyalty. Ultimately, the competitiveness of Yuanjia Village as a tourist destination declined rapidly because of product homogenization.

5.2. First Stage: Resolving the Issue of the Homogenization of Tourism Products

During this period, as the tourism development of Yuanjia Village was still in its infancy, villagers were enthusiastic about the tourist flow and the substantial benefits obtained by agritainments; they did not realize the substantial negative impact of the homogenization problem caused by the increasing number of agritainments. Therefore, when Guo Zhanwu, the secretary of the village party branch, perceived that the homogenization of tourism products and services posed hidden dangers to the future tourism development of Yuanjia Village, he decided to use the village committee as a leading force. He formulated a strategy with a primary concept of “one shop, one product”, aiming to eliminate the impact of product homogenization caused by the surge in the number of agritainment businesses on the competitiveness of tourism products in Yuanjia Village at this stage:

“The development of Yuanjia Village cannot rely solely on the villagers themselves. We need to introduce more attractive things into our village to retain tourists”. (02, Village Party Secretary)

“When the snack street firstly opened, Sister Zhang secretly rented a shop in the snack street to sell steamed buns. After being discovered by the village, she was punished with cleaning the streets in the village for one month”. (16, No. 9 agritainment operator)

After the initial surge of tourist numbers in 2010, to alleviate congestion at agritainments, disperse tourist flows, and attract foreign merchants, Yuanjia Village further relied on the village collective to raise 3 million yuan to build a snack street specializing in selling traditional foods from northern Shaanxi, China. The village offered a five-year rent-free period to attract foreign entrepreneurs. To prevent the snack street from repeating the same homogenization problem, Yuanjia Village specifically formulated operating rules centered on the “one shop, one product” principle. These rules included the following: Firstly, the village committee reviewed applicants interested in opening shops on the snack street, ensuring that their proposed business operations did not duplicate existing projects. Secondly, snack street prohibited villagers who had already opened agritainment businesses from opening shops there, to avoid a situation where villagers flocked to the snack street and it became difficult to manage. Thirdly, the village committee supervised the “one shop, one product” principle, and if anyone was found to be selling the same products or villagers operating both agritainment and snack street shops simultaneously, the village collective would impose corresponding penalties.

“It’s not up to you to decide what project you want to start. You need to see if the village approves it”. (34, snack street operator)

“After the establishment of the “One Store, One Product” policy, only external merchants are permitted to open shops on the snack street, while villagers are restricted from doing so. Consequently, we villagers can only continue operating our own agritainment”. (51, villager involved in tourism development)

The “one shop, one product” strategy led by the Yuanjia Village Committee addressed the issue of tourism product homogenization using four aspects: provision, appropriation, monitoring, and sanctioning. Firstly, the expansion of snack street increased the tourist and commercial capacity of the tourism commons in Yuanjia Village, thereby providing both an action stage and operational space for implementing the “one shop, one product” principle. Secondly, implementing the “one shop, one product” rule in snack street provided appropriation rules for its operation. This not only enriched the diversity of tourism project services, thereby driving other producers to create more differentiated products and services but also ensured that unique products maintained their uniqueness. Thirdly, the “one shop, one product” strategy strictly limited the business scope of snack street merchants and fostered effective mutual monitoring among them. For example, if a merchant discovers that another merchant is selling or providing the same products or services, they can report it to the village collective. The village collective will then sanction the merchant producing homogenized products, urging all merchants to abide by the “one shop, one product” rule.

As shown in Figure 3, the “one shop, one product” rule alleviated the problem of declining profits caused by severe homogenization among agritainment organizations; it also avoided product homogenization between agritainment businesses and the snack street, as well as among the merchants within the snack street. This averted the homogenization dilemma of tourism products and services in the first stage and enhanced the competitiveness of Yuanjia Village as a tourist destination. On the one hand, the “one shop, one product” strategy allowed tourists to consume truly unique snacks from Yuanjia Village, while Yuanjia Village also offered a rich variety of snacks and dishes in a limited number of shops, satisfying tourists’ diverse tastes. This achieved a situation where shops could produce differentiated products and consumers could consume them, both reflecting an improvement in welfare. On the other hand, the “one shop, one product” rule strictly reduced the emergence of homogenized tourism products from the source, and even directly controlled the possibility of their emergence. This ensured the unique taste and high-quality display of snacks in Yuanjia Village, thereby creating a unique feature that cannot be replicated elsewhere, reflecting an improvement in uniqueness.

Table A3. (a) Core codes and evidence examples of the homogenization of tourism products in Yuanjia Village in the first stage (2007–2012). (b) Core codes and evidence examples of the first-stage homogenization interaction of tourism products in Yuanjia Village (2007–2012). (c) Core codes and evidence examples of overcoming the homogenization of tourism products in Yuanjia Village in the first stage (2007–2012).

Theme	Code	Examples in Quotations
(a)
Resource System (RS)	Scale of resource system (RS3)	At the beginning, the main tourist spot in our village was agritainment.
	System productivity (RS5)	In a few years, the number of agritainment has increased from 2 to 39. However, everyone only runs agritainment and basically sells the same meals.
Resource Unit (RU)	Increase or decrease or replacement rate (RU2)	There is only one form of tourism in the village, agritainment, and there are no other tourism projects that can replace or increase the folk experience.
	Economic value (RU4)	Relying on folk food, the villagers who opened agritainment in the early stage made a lot of money, and other villagers began to open agritainment in their own yards.
Actor (A)	Socio-economic attributes of actors (A2)	There is almost no land for agricultural production in Yuanjia Village, but people’s daily life reflects rich folk culture, which is very suitable for the transformation of folk tourism.
	History and experience of resource utilization (A3)	Everyone has their own house/land for house, and they can also cook special dishes in northern Shaanxi. It is not difficult to open an agritainment.
	Social capital (A6)	Everyone is busy opening an agritainment, and they seldom communicate, for fear that they will earn less than others. It is good not to quarrel because of soliciting customers. The relationship between people is relatively loose, and they just maintain the basic trust with each other, but the degree of trust is not high.
Governance System (GS)	Network structure (GS3)	There are no control measures, people just take care of their own business.
	Operating rules (GS5)	Anyone who wants to open an agritainment can open it.
	Collective selection rule (GS6)	There is no one in charge of opening a agritainment in the village. There is no limit to how many agritainment can be opened in the village, but it is also reasonable. If you manage others to make money, it will break people’s income.
(b)
Interaction in Action Situations (IAS)	Rule-making (IAS1)	In the face of the situation at that time, the villagers themselves didn’t know how to deal with it. At this time, the village Committee could only formulate strategies for everyone to do. There is no process for consultation, because it is the first time for the villagers to encounter this situation, so our village cadres ask the villagers to follow the plan formulated by the village Committee.
		Our first plan is to expand a snack street.
		At that time, villagers could do nothing but cook and cook in the agritainment, so villagers were not allowed to operate in the snack street, which could avoid the homogenization of products during the agritainment period.
		The pavement cost, water and electricity charges of snack street are all covered by the village Committee, and there is no need for non-local merchants to pay, but villagers in our village can’t open stores in snack street.
		At that time, when talking with the village Committee about the admission of snack street, we had to review the types of goods sold, which must be different from those sold by other existing shops, and then we had to ensure that we could not operate the same food as others.
	Appropriation rule (IAS2)	After the completion of the snack street, tourists will have one more place to come to our village, because the snack street can let tourists consume more diversified products.
	Provision rule (IAS3)	The expansion of snack street has expanded the capacity and commercial capacity of Yuanjia Village’s tourist commons, and provided an action stage and operating space for the implementation of the rule of “one store, one product”.
	Monitoring rule (IAS4)	The village committee supervises the number of agritainment, and no new agritainment units are allowed.
		Our merchants supervise each other, and we don’t sell the same snack.
	Sanctions rule (IAS5)	When the snack street firstly opened, Sister Zhang secretly rented a shop in the snack street to sell steamed buns. After being discovered by the village, she was punished with cleaning the streets in the village for one month.
		There was a merchant who earned a lot of money by operating noodle with lamb and blood soup, he lately opened another one in the snack street. The village Committee came to demolish the merchant’s store the next day and fined him a lot of money.
	Welfare (IAS6)	Visitors can enjoy the unique snack dishes in Yuanjia Village, while Yuanjia Village can provide snack dishes with rich variety and high quality.
	Uniqueness (IAS7)	Each store can only sell one kind of snacks, which can ensure good taste, create its own unique brand and form a tourism product which is different from other places.
(c)
Resource System (RS)	Scale of resource system (RS3)	The snack street was built in 2012.
	System productivity (RS5)	As an addition to agritainment street, snack street can also provide tourism products and tourism experience now.
Resource Unit (RU)	Increase or decrease or replacement rate (RU2)	The tourism projects in the village are abundant, and the number of tourists is increasing gradually.
	Economic value (RU4)	As soon as the snack street opened, many tourists from agritainment street went to the snack street for dining. Non-local merchants earned more money than the original villagers in our village.
Actor (A)	Socio-economic attributes of actors (A2)	The joining of such a group of non-local merchants in the village has brought new management methods to the village.
	History and experience of resource utilization (A3)	Villagers thoroughly study and make traditional specialties to attract tourists by enriching the dishes of agritainment.
	Social capital (A6)	Villagers and merchants run their own agritainments and snack street food stores, but the villagers was getting envious when they saw the snack street vendors earned a fat profit.
Governance System (GS)	Network structure (GS3)	We villagers will do whatever the village committee requests.
	Operating rules (GS5)	Only non-local merchants can open stores in snack street, local villagers can’t, and villagers can only continue to run agritainment.
	Collective selection rule (GS6)	Villagers can make some suggestions, but most decisions are made by village committees.

in Appendix A.3 shows core codes and evidence examples of the homogenization of tourism products in Yuanjia Village in the first stage.

5.3. Second Stage: Performance of the Homogenization Crisis of the Value Space of Tourism Products

With increasing number of visitors to Yuanjia Village, “fried dough twists”, “powdered sheep blood soup”, and other snacks from snack street have gained popularity among tourists and have gradually become the “star products” of Yuanjia Village. Foreign merchants also rely on the institution rule of “one product for one shop” to make considerable amounts of money. However, to prevent the vicious competition and disorderly development of the early days, Yuanjia Village stipulated that village residents were only allowed to continue to operate their own agritainment businesses but not participate in the operation of shops on the snack street. This caused a substantial disparity in income and left villagers feeling frustrated and dissatisfied. Many residents gradually lost their willingness to abide by the rules and cooperate. They began to sell additional popular folk products in their own agritainment businesses or planned to sell snacks on the snack street. At the same time, snack street was not internally harmonious. Because of the impact of factors such as variety, craftsmanship, and season on the food offered by merchants, income fluctuated largely, resulting in large income gaps between merchants. Therefore, merchants with lower incomes also wanted to operate popular foods to resist the risks brought by income fluctuations:

“The number of guests in the agritainment is getting smaller and smaller, and we can’t make much money. The tourists are all going to the snack street. I can also make snacks and I want to open a shop in the snack street.” (18, agritainment business operator)

“Selling powder soup and sheep blood makes a lot of money. I can sell thousands of bowls every day. I’m a steamed bun shop, and I only earn a fraction of that. If I open another powder soup and sheep blood shop, I can earn as much as it does.” (27, snack street operator)

When villagers outside of snack street and merchants inside of snack street tend to make behavioral decisions based on maximizing individual interests, the rules of appropriation, provision, monitoring, and sanctioning formed by the “one shop, one product” institution are challenged. People gradually lose patience with abiding by the institution and maintaining cooperation, which gradually undermines established institutional rules. Firstly, the unauthorized sales by villagers and the diversified sales of merchants threaten the maintenance of the rules of appropriation. This places the unit value of the tourism commons, which was being used in an orderly manner because of the “one shop, one product” policy, at risk of being overused again. Secondly, as both farmers and merchants tend to make behavioral decisions based on the principle of maximizing their own interests, developers of tourism commons are longer be concerned about the adverse effects of their actions for others. This pursuit of personal interests undermines people’s adherence to rules, rendering already established mutual supervision mechanism non-existent, and ultimately leading to the shelving of sanctioning rules.

The established rules of appropriation, provision, monitoring, and sanctioning have been undermined by individual profit-seeking behavior caused by the uneven distribution of benefits, which has once again plunged the tourism development of Yuanjia Village into a homogenization dilemma. If such a crisis is not alleviated promptly, the competitiveness of tourist destinations will decline, which will affect consumption enthusiasm and tourism experience of tourists.

5.4. Second Stage: Resolving the Crisis of the Homogenization of the Tourism Product Value Space

During this period, although the villagers of Yuanjia Village had realized the close relationship between the development of rural tourism and their livelihood, the huge benefits obtained by breaking the rules for individuals have also caused them to succumb to the temptation of acting in their own interests. Consequently, they have taken actions such as privately selling food on snack street, which exacerbates the homogenization of tourism products. At this stage, the key to solving the problem of the homogenization of tourism products is how to form a mechanism of interest connection between villagers and the tourism development of Yuanjia Village: How to allow villagers to participate in the distribution of benefits from snack street. Therefore, according to the needs of villagers, all villagers of Yuanjia Village have jointly formulated a strategy based on “democratic participation–shareholding cooperation”. The goal of this strategy is to eliminate the problem of declining competitiveness of tourism destinations caused by the homogenization of tourism products at this stage.

To this end, under the leadership of the village committee, Yuanjia Village established a “snack street joint-stock cooperative” in 2015, where all merchants and original villagers of Yuanjia Village could become shareholders. The profit distribution of snack street was divided into two parts. The first part was distributed according to labor, which is based on the profit of the shop and the proportion of the profit to the village committee, thereby balancing the income gap among merchants; the second part was the distribution of shares. At the end of each year, the village committee calculates the operating income of snack street for the whole year and distributes 40% to the merchants and 40% to the villagers. The remaining 20% are retained by the village committee for the daily maintenance of Yuanjia Village. This arrangement balances the income gap between merchants and villagers. The two profit distributions have enabled the villagers, the village collective, and the external merchants of Yuanjia Village to use the tourism resources of the village on a mutually beneficial basis and jointly participate in the tourism development of Yuanjia Village.

“Democratic participation-shareholding cooperation” makes Yuanjia Village a community of interests. If we do a good job together, we will all get a good pay, and if we don’t, we will all get a poor pay. It’s great now. I’m running an agritainment and although I don’t earn as much as before, I can still get a dividend from the snack street cooperative at the end of the year”. (20, agritainment operator)

“Now I don’t want to imitate the snacks in the snack street at all. Anyway, I get my own dividend whatever they earn more or less. I hope they do better, because we can get more money. I can also share the money earned by the powder soup and sheep blood shop”. (30, foreign merchant on snack street)

The coping strategy of “democratic participation–shareholding cooperation” jointly agreed by the villagers of Yuanjia Village has solved the problem of homogenization of tourism products in this stage in terms of the following four aspects: appropriation, provision, monitoring, and sanctioning. Firstly, the reasonable distribution of tourism revenue solves the problem of the disorderly occupation of the unit value of the tourism commons, thereby ensuring the uniqueness of rural tourism products. Under the shareholding cooperative institution, the merchants of snack street become the direct users of the value units in the tourism commons, while the villagers become indirect users. They share the public value provided by the folk customs of northern Shaanxi in Yuanjia Village in an equal and orderly manner under new institutional rules. Secondly, the shareholding cooperative institution has closely linked the profits of snack street with the interests of villagers, optimized the provision rules of the village, and stimulated the villagers to maintain the value of the unique folk customs of northern Shaanxi in Yuanjia Village voluntarily and jointly. This has eliminated the supply of homogenized products that consumers are unwilling to consume and producers do not want to produce, thereby ensuring the realization of welfare. Specifically, under the institutional framework of shareholding cooperation, to create a beautiful environment, attract more tourists, and thus obtain more benefits, the villagers of Yuanjia Village began to consciously organize themselves to renovate the appearance of the village. They set up village health and environmental protection teams as well as security patrol teams in groups of five. These teams are responsible for environmental sanitation and public security management in the village and jointly maintain the public tourism facilities and public environment of Yuanjia Village. Thirdly, the joint stock cooperation has achieved mutual supervision between the village committee, villagers, and merchants. The village committee supervises the distribution of profits from snack street, while both villagers and merchants supervise the daily operations and year-end bonuses of the village committee. This has encouraged villagers to take the initiative in maintaining the uniqueness and welfare of tourism products. Fourthly, under the new governance institution, the village collective has formulated a new plan to monitor and sanction merchants of agritainment businesses and snack street. If merchants on snack street have problems associated with food safety and high prices, the village collective has the right to order them to close down for rectification. After meeting stipulated standards, they can resume business; if a merchant repeatedly violates the rules under monitoring, the village collective will remove its business qualification. This ensures the uniqueness and welfare of tourism products.

As shown in Figure 4, “democratic participation–stock cooperation” overcomes the homogenization dilemma of snack street products in the second stage and resolves the crisis of declining competitiveness caused by homogenization. The enhancement of competitiveness manifests in two ways: On the one hand, the snack street cooperative allows villagers to invest in shares, so that the money earned by snack street can be shared by everyone. With dividends, farmers have no need to imitate the products offered on snack street, thus maintaining the value space of the products of snack street. This enables differentiated products to be produced and consumed, which is reflected in the improvement of welfare in competitiveness. On the other hand, the establishment of various cooperatives to manage snack street and Yuanjia Village products in a cooperative manner is conducive to accumulating product reputation and forming a unique brand, which reflects the uniqueness of competitiveness. The core code and evidence examples of the homogenization governance interaction of tourism products in the second phase of Yuanjia Village development and the core code and evidence examples of the homogenization results of tourism products and services are shown in

Table A4. (a) Core codes and evidence examples of the second-stage homogenization governance interaction of tourism products in Yuanjia Village (2012–2015). (b) Core codes and evidence examples of homogenization results of tourism products and services in Yuanjia Village in the second stage (2012–2015).

Theme	Code	Examples in Quotations
(a)
Interaction in action situations (IAS)	Rule-making (IAS1)	Due to the strong wishes of the villagers, the new development plan of Yuanjia Village is agreed by the villagers and village cadres through joint consultation.
		Villagers, merchants and village committees can all get an appropriate share in the joint-stock cooperation.
		The merchants in our snack street firstly pay a certain proportion of the profits to the village committee, and then the village committee will distribute the annual profits to the merchants, villagers and themselves in proportion for management.
	Appropriation rule (IAS2)	Snack street takes the land in our village, and we can make money together.
	Provision rule (IAS3)	The joint-stock cooperative system optimizes the provision rules of villages and inspires villagers to voluntarily safeguard the value contained in Yuanjia Village and its unique folk customs in northern Shaanxi.
		Villagers organize their own cleaning teams and security teams to maintain the village’s environmental sanitation and infrastructure.
	Monitoring rule (IAS4)	We villagers have the right to supervise, and if we have disagreement on dividend allotment, we will directly report it to the village.
		The village committee will regularly check the food safety and sanitary environment of snack street shops.
	Sanctions rule (IAS5)	Shops and agritainment that are found problems by the village Committee will be closed for rectification.
		Shops and agritainment that are still not up to standard after rectification will be completely dismissed.
	Welfare (IAS6)	“Democratic participation-joint-stock cooperation” makes Yuanjia Village a community of interests. If we do a good job together, we will all get a good pay, and if we don’t, we will all get a poor pay.
	Uniqueness (IAS7)	Now I don’t want to imitate the snacks in the snack street at all. Anyway, I get my own dividend whatever they earn more or less. I hope they do better, because we can get more money.
(b)
Resource System (RS)	Scale of resource system (RS3)	Yuanjia Village has successively built Book Yard Street and Bar Street in a consequence.
	System productivity (RS5)	The products sold in each street are different. For example, Book Yard Street sells more poems, while Bar Street mainly sells wine, including wine brewed by our villagers in Yuanjia Village and imported wine.
Resource Unit (RU)	Increase or decrease or replacement rate (RU2)	Yuanjia Village is still under development. In addition to these streets, hotels should be built to meet people’s demand for accommodation, so that tourists can often come to this village.
	Economic value (RU4)	Yuanjia Village has built its own tourism brand.
Actor (A)	Socio-economic attributes of actors (A2)	Villagers and merchants share the fruits of tourism development.
	History and experience of resource utilization (A3)	Through the continuous development of rural tourism, the traditional culture of Yuanjia Village has been continuously excavating.
	Social capital (A6)	Everyone trusts with each other and the village Committee distributes dividends fairly.
Governance System (GS)	Network structure (GS3)	In the village, everyone gets organized by holding regular meetings, which may reflect various problems. All of the participants offer suggestions regarding the development of rural tourism in Yuanjia Village, and the process is equivalent to forming a management organization network.
	Operating rules (GS5)	Yuanjia Village has its culture, streets and all kinds of resources that can be used for tourism development, which are used in an orderly manner.
	Collective selection rule (GS6)	The villagers have the right to express their sights, and everything in the village is discussed among the villagers.

in Appendix A.4.

5.5. Third Stage: Homogenization of Tourism Products

With the booming tourism in Yuanjia Village, many villages across China that are currently preparing to develop tourism have witnessed the success of Yuanjia Village, inducing ideas of learning and imitation. There have been many instances where Yuanjia Village’s tourism products have been imitated in various parts of the country. These different places are not only learning and replicating the related specialty products of Yuanjia Village but also its tourism development model.

“In 2012 and 2013, many people came with rulers and various measuring instruments to measure the size of Yuanjia Village, the width of the streets, the small canals, and the overall layout of the business formats” (04, village committee receptionist).

“When we first planned to open an Culture Experience Shop, there were a lot of objections in the village. Many villagers thought, “What if people taste our products in city and don’t come to Yuanjia Village in person?”. (63, Yintai shop manager)

5.6. Third Stage: Significantly Enhanced Differentiated Competitiveness of Rural Tourism

Faced with imitation and learning from the outside world, the development of Yuanjia Village’s rural tourism has not lost its footing. Following the transition from rural tourism to a rural resort, the village committee and villagers of Yuanjia Village jointly launched the “enter cities, expand beyond provinces” plan. Through the institutional design of “base + farmer cooperatives + management”, they gradually condensed the unique characteristics of Yuanjia Village’s rural tourism into a symbol of northern Shaanxi folk customs, thereby forging the commercial brand of “Yuanjia Village”. Based on this institutional design, the “Yuanjia Village” brand began to expand into cities and ultimately across the country, with its differentiated competitiveness extending from rural tourism destinations to other consumer markets.

When the “enter cities, expand beyond provinces” plan was first proposed, there was considerable opposition within the village, with many villagers wondering, “What if people eat in the city and no longer come to Yuanjia Village?” Nevertheless, the village respected the wishes of its villagers, allowing those who wished to invest to do so without coercion. The funding model remained similar to that of the promotion of joint-stock cooperatives in the second phase. In 2015, Yuanjia Village Company established a store preparation team and conducted research in Xi’an to gain a better understanding of the preferences and shopping needs of city dwellers. They constructed an experience store imbued with the flavor of Yuanjia Village in a shopping mall, adhering to the architectural style of Yuanjia Village’s snack street. After its completion, the store invited businesses to participate in the market, selecting 60 out of over 300 applicants to jointly create the unique flavors of the “Yuanjia Village” brand. Notably, Yuanjia Village Company stipulated that all raw materials used by shops must come from Yuanjia Village, thereby ensuring the taste and food safety of the brand. By 2024, Yuanjia Village had established 15 experience stores in Xi’an, with the longest-running store operating for nine years. It is evident that while Yuanjia Village initially focused on attracting local tourists through rural tourism, the urban experience stores that emerged according to the “enter cities, expand beyond provinces” plan have drawn more tourists from afar, even welcoming international visitors to Yuanjia Village.

Yuanjia Village Company addressed the issue of tourism product homogenization in this stage by tackling it from the four aspects of appropriation, provision, monitoring, and sanctioning in the creation and management of the “Yuanjia Village” brand and experience stores. Firstly, in terms of provision rules, Yuanjia Village employs a “scoring institution” for products to ensure that the specific taste of the “Yuanjia Village” brand is retained. Thereby, both the brand and experience stores are transformed into a platform for shared benefits. Specifically, when selecting products to be sold in experience stores, Yuanjia Village adopts a scoring institution by competition judges (villagers and tourists of Yuanjia Village). Snacks with the highest scores (first place in the competition) gain entry into the urban experience stores for display and sale.

“Before opening the store, a notice will be released to recruit masters of local special snacks such as oil-splashed noodles and chili products. In the form of a village competition, villagers will be invited to compete in the same type of snacks. Senior villagers or chefs will serve as judges to score, and the highest scorer will win the right to operate the stall in the store”. (69, a manager of the city experience store)

This “scoring institution” selects the best works from numerous artisans, thereby ensuring the quality of the taste of the snacks and dishes in Yuanjia Village’s urban stores from the source. This competitive selection mechanism keeps the prices of the products offered in Yuanjia Village’s experience stores within a reasonable range because of competition and provides substantial benefits to ordinary urban residents. At the same time, the unique product flavors ensured by the “scoring institution” competition also bring experiential opportunities to those who do not have the time or means to travel to Yuanjia Village. This expands the influence of the northern Shaanxi folk culture behind the “Yuanjia Village” brand. In addition, Yuanjia Village stipulates that the raw materials for snacks and dishes offered in experience stores must originate from agricultural products produced by Yuanjia Village itself. This stipulation ensures the competitiveness of the “Yuanjia Village” brand and experience stores as a revenue-sharing platform. Secondly, in terms of appropriation rules, the “Yuanjia Village” brand and related experience stores have always adhered to the following principle: “universal participation, voluntary shareholding, first-come, first-serve for those with less money, later for those with more, caring for small households, restricting large households, and sharing risks and benefits”. The resulting community of interests has strengthened the foundation for cooperation among villagers, shops within Yuanjia Village, and urban experience stores. It represents a further upgrading of the appropriation rules embodied in the “democratic participation–shareholding cooperation” institution practiced in previous stages. Thirdly, in terms of monitoring and sanctioning rules, according to the management regulations of the “Yuanjia Village” brand and experience stores, the Yuanjia Village Company regularly inspects the taste of dishes in experience stores. Experience stores with unqualifying dishes will be retrained and studied until they have adjusted the taste of the dishes to match the authentic flavor of Yuanjia Village. If an experience store fails to comply with the management regulations of the “Yuanjia Village” brand, or if its operations harm the reputation of the “Yuanjia Village” brand, the Yuanjia Village Company will disallow these shops to use the “Yuanjia Village” brand for their business activities.

In the continuous process of overcoming the homogenization of tourism products, Yuanjia Village has gradually explored its own suitable development path, thereby achieving a comprehensive and all-round improvement in the competitiveness of tourism destinations. On the one hand, in terms of the uniqueness of tourism destination competitiveness, in the process of establishing the “Yuanjia Village” brand and launching urban experience stores, Yuanjia Village continues to export its self-governance institution model to both the market and society. Thereby, the village creates its own irreplaceable and unique brand in rural areas across the country. Currently, Yuanjia Village Company has established folk tourism bases in Qinghai, Henan, Shanxi, and Hubei. Thus, relying on its exploration of the self-governance institution, Yuanjia Village has established the “Yuanjia Village” brand. It has become a symbol representing a broader folk culture—wherever tourists travel in the future, they will seek out products with the “Yuanjia Village” brand symbol whenever they want to experience folk culture. On the other hand, in terms of welfare, urban experience stores and Yuanjia Village’s agricultural products form a “front store, back factory” sales model. Urban experience stores ensure the display of the northern Shaanxi folk brand, while the agricultural products of Yuanjia Village rely on the “scoring institution” and related raw material procurement, warehousing, and transportation to achieve a seamless connection with the retail section of experience stores, supplying differentiated folk-flavored products. At the same time, the main difference between Yuanjia Village and other scenic spots is that visitors can enter the village freely to experience genuine local culture and rural life. The atmosphere of “the village is the scenic spot, and the home is the attraction” connects villagers, the village, and rural life, allowing consumers to enjoy various tourism products without incurring high costs. Figure 5 shows the development effect of Yuanjia Village in the third stage after 2015.

“These imitated snack streets can never replace the taste of Yuanjia Village. Some tourists are used to the snacks with the taste of Yuanjia Village and recognise our pure handmade products with clean and visible raw materials” (04, receptionist of the village committee)

The core codes and evidence examples of how Yuanjia Village overcame the homogenization challenge in the third stage, as well as the core codes and evidence examples of the results of overcoming homogenization in the third stage, are shown in

Table A5. (a) Examples of core codes and evidence for Yuanjia Village overcoming homogenized interaction in the third Stage (After 2015). (b) Examples of core codes and evidence for overcoming homogenization in the third stage of Yuanjia Village (after 2015).

Theme	Code	Examples in Quotations
(a)
Interaction in action situations (IAS)	Rule-making (IAS1)	When we first planned to open an Culture Experience Shop, there were a lot of objections in the village. Many villagers thought, “What if people taste our products in city and don’t come to Yuanjia Village in person?”.
		Explore how to comprehensively upgrade the entire rural tourism industry.
		Monitor the annual income of villagers and merchants in Yuanjia Village (Given the fact that the income of business households is uneven, the high-profit merchants in the village are turned into cooperatives, and some stock shares are given to low-profit merchants to narrow the gap between them and high-income merchants)
		As the product selection of Culture Experience Shops, Yuanjia Village adopts the competition scoring system, and the snacks with the highest score can be displayed in Culture Experience Shop in the city.
	Appropriation rule (IAS2)	Adhering to the principle of “participation admission for all the the villagers, voluntary participation in stock shares, low investment go first, high investment go later, caring for small families, restricting large families, sharing both risks and benefits”, the formed interest community has consolidated the foundation of cooperation among villagers, shops in the village and Culture Experience Shop in cities, which is a further upgrade of the appropriation rules embodied in the system of “democratic participation-share cooperation” practiced in the previous stage.
	Provision rule (IAS3)	Choose the best from the food of many craftsmen, and ensure the taste and quality of snack dishes in Culture Experience Shop from the very beginning.
		The “scoring system” for supplying products ensures the taste of products, the “Yuanjia Village” brand and the Culture Experience Shop form a platform together for sharing benefits.
	Monitoring rule (IAS4)	The shop manager of each Culture Experience Shop regularly tests the taste of stall dishes.
		The village Committee will regularly monitor the annual income of villagers and merchants in Yuanjia Village through a series of means and data such as the Finance Department to supervise whether the profit distribution is balanced.
	Sanctions rule (IAS5)	Close, train and rectify the stalls serving unqualified dishes.
		Those who change the price and quantity of food without permission will be fined, and those who seriously violate the rules of management system will be removed directly.
	Welfare (IAS6)	The Culture Experience Shop and Yuanjia Village agricultural products form a “Store in the front and factory in the back” sale model. The Culture Experience Shop ensures the display of folk brands in northern Shaanxi, and relies on the “scoring system” to select the best from many excellent competitive dishes and craftsmen, ensuring that the Culture Experience Shop provides high-quality snack dishes and diners can enjoy high-quality and delicious food at the same time.
	Uniqueness (IAS7)	Builds the brand of “Yuanjia Village”, launches the Culture Experience Shop project, and constantly exports its own independent and systematic governance model to the market and society. Yuanjia Village has its own intellectual property (IP) which can completely withstand the piracy. Even if others imitate it, they can’t imitate its essence.
(b)
Resource System (RS)	Scale of resource system (RS3)	With building Muslim Street, Book Yard Street, Bar Street and other streets, culture experience shops and central kitchens in cities in a consequence, Yuanjia Village takes raw materials production, processing and distribution projects into consideration for meeting the future’s demand, and continuously expand the tourism resource system in Yuanjia Village.
	System productivity (RS5)	The Culture Experience Shops in cities provide an offline publicity platform for Yuanjia Village, which brings more tourists to our village. At the same time, the unique and creative products of the shops in the city also bring considerate economic benefits.
Resource Unit (RU)	Increase or decrease or replacement rate (RU2)	The Yuanjia Village model is still being explored and developed. In addition to the Culture Experience Shops in cities, it also moves the management model of Yuanjia Village to other tourist destinations.
	Economic value (RU4)	Yuanjia Village has built its own tourism brand, which not only brings huge economic benefits to Yuanjia Villagers, but also radiates benefits to other participants.
Actor (A)	Socio-economic attributes of actors (A2)	Villagers, merchants and investors share the benefits of Yuanjia Village tourism brand.
	History and experience of resource utilization (A3)	Yuanjia Village constantly roots in the unique folk culture in northern Shaanxi, makes efficient use of resources and forms its own unique cultural symbol, which can’t be copied.
	Social capital (A6)	The merchants, managers and employees of the Culture Experience Shops unite, negotiate and trust with each other to jointly promote a “bigger and stronger” tourism in Yuanjia Village and gather the trust and recognition of tourists.
Governance System (GS)	Network structure (GS3)	Culture Experience Shop with rural village products has formed a production and sales model of “Store in the front and factory in the back”. The manager of each store is selected and trained by the village, and the clerk is an older villager in the village near Yuanjia Village.
	Operating rules (GS5)	According to the unique folk culture in northern Shaanxi, the products displayed in the city, the products in the village and the Culture Experience Shop share mutual benefit, achieving win-win, forming a powerful industrial chain.
	Collective selection rule (GS6)	Every Culture Experience Shop has investors to discuss together, and Yuanjia Village’s decision fully respects the opinions of investors.

in Appendix A.5.

6. Discussions

6.1. Exploring the “Third Force” in Enhancing Competitiveness of Rural Tourism Destinations

Existing studies on the homogenization of rural tourism products have adopted diverse theoretical lenses. First, to address product homogenization and enhance differentiated competitiveness, scholars emphasize community participation’s role in preserving uniqueness [105], critiquing “top-down” development models for marginalizing local voices and commodifying culture [106]. Second, under the framework of rural authenticity construction, researchers examine tensions between “staged authenticity” [107] and “authentic authenticity”, exemplified by Japan’s Shirakawa-go Village, which avoided homogenization through dynamic heritage preservation [108]. Third, balancing globalization and local dynamics, scholars analyze multinational capital’s “McDonaldization” effects, such as luxury tourism eroding provinces’ cultural identities [109]. Technological empowerment has also enabled differentiation, as seen in Tuscany’s integration of wine tourism with tech-driven experiences [110,111]. However, in developing nations, government-led planning often lacks flexibility, resulting in uniform village landscapes and “standardized model villages” that suppress local cultural innovation [112]. For instance, commercialization in Lijiang Ancient Town diluted the Naxi people’ s indigenous culture [113]. Homogenized agritainment, homestays, and architectural styles have triggered cutthroat competition [114], while unequal profit distribution between enterprises and villagers stifles innovation incentives [115].

Contrastingly, Yuanjia Village’s institutional innovation demonstrates how grassroots governance enables direct community decision-making. By resolving “free-rider” problems in public goods management through collective action, the village now attracts 8 million annual visitors, generates over 1.2 billion yuan in tourism revenue, and secures an average annual income exceeding 150,000 yuan per resident. This aligns with Moscardo’s (2017) “community empowerment” theory, underscoring local agency’s role in sustaining distinctiveness [106]. While many firms pursue standardization to expand market share, Yuanjia Village’s regulatory mechanisms—such as penalty systems against exploitative competition—foster product differentiation (e.g., authentic local snacks), achieving win–win outcomes for individual profits and social welfare. In sum, rural tourism development has oscillated between state-driven models [116] and market-oriented logics [117]. This study identifies grassroots governance as a “third force”, bridging theoretical gaps. Unlike Western community participation theories emphasizing decentralization [106], Yuanjia Village’s practice prioritizes dynamic alignment between institutional rules and local culture, offering novel insights for developing economies.

6.2. Full-Cycle Homogenization of Tourism Products and Adaptive Evolution of Self-Governance Institution

The case study of Yuanjia Village demonstrates that product homogenization in rural tourism destinations emerges at every stage of their development. To prevent this pervasive issue from undermining sustainable development, self-governance institutions must undergo adaptive transformations in response to evolving homogenization challenges. This finding provides new insights for understanding tourism development through the lens of institutional adaptive transformation.

Existing research has shown how self-governance adaptations address the tragedy of the commons in tourism [9]. This study extends this conclusion by demonstrating that such transformations not only resolve tourism commons dilemmas but also enhance rural destination competitiveness. Meanwhile, systematic discussions remain lacking regarding the forces driving the evolution of Butler’s (1980) [118,119,120,121,122] tourism area life cycle (TALC) framework. For this, this study proposes a possible pathway: The TALC progression occurs through continuous overcoming of tourism commons tragedies represented by product homogenization. Institutional adaptive transformations that address homogenization and commons issues across development stages constitute the core mechanism driving TALC evolution.

6.3. The Self-Governance Institution Is a New Bridge for Understanding the Competitiveness Issues of Rural Tourism Destinations

The academic challenge of identifying factors influencing collective action for public resources has long been addressed by scholars. Over the past four decades, extensive research has explored the impact of key factors on self-governance institutions, including foundational studies by Wade (1987) [123], Berkes (1989) [124], Ostrom (1990) [22], and Tang (1992) [125], as well as recent findings from Zang et al. (2019) [126], Wang et al. (2022) [127], and Su et al. (2025) [76]. Consequently, nearly forty factors affecting self-governance have been identified. These factors can be broadly categorized based on the physical attributes of goods (e.g., exclusivity, rivalry in consumption, and scarcity), community characteristics (e.g., group size, land use patterns, social capital, and heterogeneity), institutional contexts (e.g., communication, usage rules, monitoring, and sanctions), and broader external environments (e.g., economic development, political stability, and technology). By bridging the conclusions of this study with prior research on self-governance institutions and their influencing factors, it becomes evident that these institutions mediate additional factors affecting tourism destination competitiveness. For instance, variations in land use patterns, which trigger differences in self-governance institutions [77,91], further lead to disparities in destination competitiveness. Moreover, this study identifies new mechanisms through which self-governance institutions influence established determinants of tourism competitiveness, such as community leadership and social capital factors previously recognized as impactful but now shown to exert their influence via institutional mediation [52,128,129,130]. These insights offer a novel theoretical contribution to the existing literature.

7. Conclusions, Implications, and Limitations

7.1. Conclusions

Against the backdrop of the rapid development of rural tourism, competition in the tourism market has become increasingly fierce. The homogenization problem induced by mutual imitation poses a great challenge to the competitiveness of tourist destinations. Today, as more and more tourists seek unique travel experiences, how tourist destinations can cope with the homogenization of tourism products to maintain competitiveness has become a challenge. This study analyses how Yuanjia Village has overcome the problems induced by homogenization through the four rules of appropriation, provision, monitoring, and sanctioning of its self-governance institution. This ensured the unique and welfare characteristics of tourism products, thus forming a powerful competitive force in the development of Yuanjia Village. Therefore, Yuanjia Village provides an ideal practice blueprint for solving the problem of declining competitiveness caused by the homogenization of rural tourism products. Future policy formulation should also divert sufficient attention to local villagers in tourist destinations in developing countries. This not only requires improving their livelihoods and welfare but also providing institutional rules for organization, so that villagers in these areas can share in the fruits of rural tourism development.

7.2. Political Implications

The self-governance practices implemented in Yuanjia Village (as presented in the case study) and those conducted in other villages worldwide both represent instances where residents employ institutions and rules to coordinate collective action. This phenomenon is not unique to the studied site, but rather exemplifies the process described by Ostrom (1990) [22], wherein people design institutional frameworks to achieve the orderly utilization of resources, environments, and other public goods. Consequently, this paper’s exploration of how self-governance institutions enhance the competitiveness of rural tourism destinations can indeed provide practical development insights for rural areas similar to Yuanjia Village. In terms of specific policy implementation, the government should first actively foster the autonomy of residents in rural communities and tourist destinations, encouraging self-initiation, organization, and execution by villagers. By involving direct participants and beneficiaries of tourism development in the design of institutional frameworks, they can better adapt to changing circumstances. Villagers can secure stable incomes through property rentals, land leases, and other equity transfers, while also benefiting from additional sources such as share dividends, pure operating profit distributions, and earnings from participating in rural tourism management services or labor activities, thereby achieving diversified and long-term financial gains. On a voluntary basis, villagers can be organized into rural tourism associations at the village level, representing their will and interests in comprehensive negotiations with state-owned companies and foreign enterprises. These associations will effectively regulate villagers’ involvement in rural tourism operation and service activities, safeguarding the common interests of both business owners and association members.

Secondly, it is crucial to leverage the synergistic effects of higher-level and local governments to establish rural revitalization institutes and cultural tourism institutes in suitable regions. Schools and training institutions should be encouraged to cultivate high-quality cultural and tourism talents through customized talent development programs. Additionally, villages should incentivize college students to return home and start businesses in rural tourism by offering talent rewards, thereby establishing a mechanism for attracting and nurturing top-tier talent. Furthermore, villages across various regions should strengthen training for village officials, residents, and existing staff to provide high-quality and well-equipped personnel for the development of rural tourism.

The government can also guide residents of tourist destinations in cultivating endogenous leadership. On one hand, during the development of rural tourism, leaders can engage villagers in institutional design to ensure the maintenance and operation of the system. On the other hand, in the event of a “tragedy of the commons” in rural tourism, competent local forces can steer residents towards negotiation and cooperation.

7.3. Limitations

There are certain limitations to this study. On the one hand, this study only examines Yuanjia Village in Shaanxi Province, China, as an example. In future research, it will be necessary to conduct comparative studies on different rural tourism destinations with different environmental and socio-economic conditions. At the same time, an undeniable fact is that homogenization issues can also exist at the regional or national level. However, if we need to study such homogenization issues from the perspective of self-governance institutions, we must first overcome the applicability limitations of self-governance theory. This is being examined by ongoing work by many scholars dedicated to self-governance theory research, such as Su et al. (2022) [131]. In the future, new breakthroughs in the applicability of self-governance theory can be integrated to extend research on tourism product homogenization into broader domains.