Rural policies, regional integration, and tourism growth: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment of the national tourism poverty alleviation demonstration project

Against the backdrop of ongoing implementation of the rural revitalization strategy and regional coordinated development policies, rural tourism is regarded as a crucial pathway for promoting rural economic growth and narrowing regional development disparities. Based on the pilot policy of the “National Tourism Poverty Alleviation Demonstration Project,” this paper constructs an interaction model between rural tourism policies and regional integration. Using panel data from multiple regions in China spanning 2009 to 2023, it empirically analyzes the impact mechanisms of rural tourism policies and regional integration on tourism growth, and further explores the moderating effects and heterogeneity under different fiscal conditions. The results indicate that: (1) Rural tourism policies significantly promote regional tourism growth by effectively stimulating the development of tourism resources and enhancing reception capacity; (2) The level of regional integration itself also exerts a significant positive effect on tourism growth; (3) Regional integration plays an important moderating role between rural tourism policies and tourism growth—where higher levels of integration are associated with more pronounced policy effects; (4) The moderating effect exhibits significant heterogeneity under different levels of general public budget expenditures, with regions possessing higher budget expenditures demonstrating stronger policy support and synergy, thereby enabling more effective policy outcomes.