Distribution of the Land Value Increment in the Context of Rural Tourism

The rapid development of rural tourism has become a significant force in promoting rural revitalization. However, the unbalanced distribution of value increment generated by the land tourism-oriented transformation has led to various conflicts and has affected the sustainable development of rural tourism. This study selected Zhongyuan Township, Jing’an County, Jiangxi Province, China, as the research site. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and questionnaire surveys from government entities, village collectives, and investors, yielding 24 interview transcripts and 665 valid questionnaires. By integrating the Shapley value method, grounded theory, structural equation modeling, and the analytic hierarchy process, this study was conducted according to the frame-work of “tracing influencing factors, deconstructing influence mechanisms, and optimizing the distribution model”. The data were analyzed using grounded theory and structural equation modeling. The results indicated that, in addition to the factors influencing land value increment, policy drivers and risk factors also exerted a direct and significant impact on value increment distribution. Based on these findings, the traditional Shapley value model was optimized to produce a more equitable and efficient distribution framework. The optimized value increment distribution model overcomes the limitations of the traditional Shapley value method in addressing complex multi-stakeholder interests, not only making the distribution of land value increment in rural tourism contexts more equitable and efficient but also providing a scientific decision-making tool for balancing economic development, social equity, and ecological protection—laying a solid foundation for the sustainable development of rural tourism destinations. This study provides a scientific decision-making tool for balancing stakeholder interests in rural tourism development and contributes to the theoretical refinement of benefit distribution mechanisms in sustainable tourism.