An Investigation Of The Star-grading Appraisal System On "Happy Farmhouse" In Changsha, Hunan

Rural tourism in Changsha City has achieved remarkable results in economic benefits, social, or ecological efficiency. Probably the most exciting and significant innovation in rural tourism in recent years is the widespread "happy farmhouse" in China. However, despite the vigorous development and the huge vitality, rural tourism is challenged by the question of sustainable development. The question of how to use rural traveling resources as well as protect the ecological environment and achieve sustainable development is, therefore, a major concern of professionals in rural tourism. As a result, it is practical significance to establish the standardized appraisal system and demonstrate exemplary projects on rural traveling projects such as the "happy farmhouse" program. In order to guide the "happy farmhouse" program on the track of healthy, orderly, and sustainable development, local governments such as Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Huangshan, Changsha have started to develop quality grading standards of "happy farmhouse", which include the guidance of investment, transportation, publicity, etc. Although these standards have made very positive impacts on the development of "happy farmhouse", the contents and regulations of such standards are still on the primary stage. Accordingly, it is necessary to conduct a further study on the standardization of developing "happy farmhouse" which focuses on improving and making clear on principles, rules, products, services, skills, and management.This study reviewed issues, status, and problems of rural tourism in the world as gleaned from the literature. It then introduced the related concepts and theories of the "happy farmhouse" program; analyzed and discussed its characters, types, and major concerns; and provided suggestions and strategies on design and developing the "happy farmhouse" program in general.Particularly, this study provided a systematic and practical approach to construct the star-grading appraisal system on the "happy farmhouse" program, including:1) classified and divided the star-grading appraisal system on the "happy farmhouse" program into four layers:target, system, essential factor, and basic indicator; Target layer reflects synthesize evaluation of "happy farmhouse". System layer include environment system, transportation system, service facilities system, travel item system, travel manage system and travel performance system. Essential factor layer reflects the composition of the detailed content of each system level, including 13 main factors:ecological environment, surrounding environment, architectural environment, accessibility, scenic spots path, tourism facilities, colligate facilities, entertainment and health protection active, farming active, service quality, operation management, social benefit, economic benefit and so on.2) Identified 36 basic indicators to essential factors; 3) Decided the index weight. Forming judgment matrix, adopting the Analytical Hierarchy Process, the thesis reasonably determined the index weight on the basis of the index framework established. On this foundation, established the star-grading appraisal system on "Happy Farmhouse".Finally, this study provided the empirical analysis of the star-grading appraisal system on the "happy farmhouse" program in Changsha. Results and discussions were also provided.