Abstract
As the digital economy increasingly penetrates rural space, rural tourism is shifting from a “resource-driven” development model—largely determined by natural endowments and location advantages—to a “digitally enabled” innovation model characterized by platform mechanisms, digitally mediated scenarios, and institutional coordination. In practice, however, digital transformation in rural tourism has produced sharply divergent outcomes. While some regions have achieved value upgrading and industrial renewal, others face a problematic combination of short-lived traffic booms, rapid homogenization through imitation, and governance disorder. Explaining this divergence has become a central issue in research on the digital economy and rural revitalization. Situated within China’s “Digital Commerce Empowering Agriculture” policy agenda, this study develops a tripartite analytical framework integrating digital platforms, scenario-based innovation, and county-level governance resilience to examine the mechanisms through which the digital economy drives rural tourism innovation. The analysis yields three main findings. First, digital platforms reduce transaction costs and information asymmetries through algorithmic recommendation, credit-based evaluation, and two-sided market dynamics. In doing so, they activate long-tail demand oriented toward interests, culture, and lifestyle preferences, while reshaping market access conditions and competition rules in rural tourism. Second, supported by digital technologies, scenario-based innovation reconstructs fragmented rural resources, production processes, and cultural memory into experiential products with narrative coherence and immersive qualities. This facilitates a value shift from “selling scenery” to “selling ways of life” and constitutes a core pathway for escaping homogenized competition. Third, county-level governance resilience functions as an institutional anchor in digital transformation. Through standard setting, public data coordination, and risk early-warning arrangements, it buffers traffic shocks, mediates multi-actor interests, and provides institutional conditions for sustained innovation. Comparative analysis of Anji County (Zhejiang Province) and Wuyuan County (Jiangxi Province) further shows that digitalization does not automatically generate high-quality rural tourism development. Development outcomes depend on whether platform mechanisms, scenario innovation, and county governance form a positive coupling. Traffic expansion without governance constraints may lead to the “digital erosion” of rural ecological capacity and social structure, while governance systems lacking platform and scenario support often fail to translate policy intentions into tangible development momentum. This study contributes theoretically by moving beyond linear, technology-centered explanations and advancing a coupling perspective that integrates technology, space, and institutions. Practically, it offers policy implications for county governments seeking to prevent “traffic bubbles,” strengthen digital governance capacity, and guide rural tourism toward endogenous and sustainable development.