Dear Dr. Zhang,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process.

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Kind regards,

Qianda Zhuang, Ph.D.

Guest Editor

PLOS ONE

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Reviewers' comments:

Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously? -->?>

Reviewer #1: N/A

Reviewer #2: Yes

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3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available??>

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.-->

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes

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4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English??>

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Dear Author, Dear Author, Dear Author, Dear Author,

The aim of the paper, as presented in the title and abstract, is very clear. The abstract effectively outlines the purpose of the study.

The statement on page 4, lines 16 - 17 (“little is known about the content and change of rurality in rural tourism destinations”) should be substantiated and further explained. There appears to be a substantial body of literature on this topic; therefore, clarifying the specific perspective or contribution of the current article would strengthen its position.

Several statements throughout the manuscript require clarification, as they appear ambiguous or potentially affected by issues in English translation. The following examples illustrate this concern:

• “The rurality is the key attraction of tourism” - This claim seems overly generalized, as tourism encompasses a wide range of forms and motivations. A more nuanced formulation would be advisable to reflect the diversity of tourism drivers.

• “Given the diversity of quantitative research on rural representation of rurality as rural is diversity, there is a need to identify the sub-dimensions or components of rurality representation”.

• “sheep” (line 22, page 9.

The manuscript states that “This study focuses on the two periods before and after the development of tourism to see how rurality representations altered after social change”; however, the only temporal reference provided is “June 14–15 and August 27–30, 2020.” Greater clarity is needed. Furthermore, the statement on page 7 — “Rurality is not only a subjective perception but also a product of social construction” — is particularly significant. This claim would benefit from further elaboration and the inclusion of relevant scholarly references to strengthen its theoretical grounding and enhance its impact.

It can be inferred that “agritainment” derives from a combination of “agriculture” and “entertainment”; however, the term should be clearly defined, and it should be clarified whether it has been used in previous academic literature. The term “angertainment” (page 22, line 5) appears to be a likely misspelling of “agritainment.”

In the Methodology section, it is recommended to provide a more detailed explanation of the process through which the three core categories were distilled from the initial 28 main categories.

The opening lines of the Data Collection section should be clarified or reformulated, as they currently suggest that interviews with tourists were a plan B option due to an insufficient number of interviews with residents.

Reviewer #2: The issue of rurality is a crucial topic in rural tourism. This manuscript has important theoretical and practical value, and it is recommended to revise it before acceptance. Following are my observations: The issue of rurality is a crucial topic in rural tourism. This manuscript has important theoretical and practical value, and it is recommended to revise it before acceptance. Following are my observations: The issue of rurality is a crucial topic in rural tourism. This manuscript has important theoretical and practical value, and it is recommended to revise it before acceptance. Following are my observations: The issue of rurality is a crucial topic in rural tourism. This manuscript has important theoretical and practical value, and it is recommended to revise it before acceptance. Following are my observations:

In terms of the results report, the author presents the representation of rurality and its change in rural tourism destinations based on the Social Representation Theory. However, the authors did not strictly follow the procedures of the Grounded Theory analysis paradigm to present the outcomes of open coding, axial coding, and selective coding. Also, the results are superficial and descriptive, without in-depth analysis and

synthesis. The presentation of the results can be enhanced by including visual representations such as graphs to summarise key points and ensuring that the analysis goes beyond descriptive findings to provide in depth insights and synthesis. Suggest making appropriate modifications.

The third conclusion presents the differences in the perception of rurality between tourists and residents. However, the author does not strictly distinguish between tourists and residents in the result analysis section, leading to insufficient evidential support. Suggest making appropriate modifications.

The article still has some shortcomings in terms of writing and formatting. It is recommended that the authors carefully revise and refine the work. Also, it is suggested that the authors provide explanations for some rural customary activities mentioned in the results section, such as five rampages, guandan game, Long Street Banquet and so on.

Suggest supplementing relevant literature appropriately.

TANG Chengcai, LIU Yaru, WAN Ziwei, LIANG Wenqi. Evaluation system and influencing paths of the integration of culture and tourism of traditional villages. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2023, 33(12): 2489-2510.

TANG Chengcai, Yang Yuanyuan, LIU Yaru, Xiao Xiaoyue. Comprehensive Evaluation of the Cultural Inheritance Level of Tourism-oriented Traditional Villages: The Example of Beijing. Tourism Management Perspectives, 2023, 48, 101166.

Tang Chengcai, Han Ying, Pin Ng. Green consumption intention and behavior of tourists in urban and rural destinations. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 2023, 66(10): 2126-2150.

Liu Yaru, Tang Chengcai*, Wan Ziwei. Multi-scenario analysis and the construction of the revitalization model of green development in tourism traditional villages. Journal of Resources and Ecology, 2023, 14(2): 239-251.

Chengcai Tang, Qianqian Zheng, Pin Ng. A Study on the Coordinative Green Development of Tourist Experience and Commercialization of Tourism at Cultural Heritage Sites. Sustainability,2019, 11, 4732.

Zhang Y, Zheng Q, Tang C, et al. Spatial characteristics and restructuring model of the agro-cultural heritage site in the context of culture and tourism integration[J]. Heliyon, 2024, 10(9).https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e30227.

**********

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: No

**********

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Dear Dr. Zhang,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process.

Please submit your revised manuscript by Mar 14 2026 11:59PM. If you will need more time than this to complete your revisions, please reply to this message or contact the journal office at plosone@plos.org. When you're ready to submit your revision, log on to https://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/ and select the 'Submissions Needing Revision' folder to locate your manuscript file.. When you're ready to submit your revision, log on to https://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/ and select the 'Submissions Needing Revision' folder to locate your manuscript file.. When you're ready to submit your revision, log on to https://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/ and select the 'Submissions Needing Revision' folder to locate your manuscript file.. When you're ready to submit your revision, log on to https://www.editorialmanager.com/pone/ and select the 'Submissions Needing Revision' folder to locate your manuscript file.

• A letter that responds to each point raised by the academic editor and reviewer(s). You should upload this letter as a separate file labeled 'Response to Reviewers'.
• A marked-up copy of your manuscript that highlights changes made to the original version. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Revised Manuscript with Track Changes'.
• An unmarked version of your revised paper without tracked changes. You should upload this as a separate file labeled 'Manuscript'.

If applicable, we recommend that you deposit your laboratory protocols in protocols.io to enhance the reproducibility of your results. Protocols.io assigns your protocol its own identifier (DOI) so that it can be cited independently in the future. For instructions see: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/submission-guidelines#loc-laboratory-protocols. Additionally, PLOS ONE offers an option for publishing peer-reviewed Lab Protocol articles, which describe protocols hosted on protocols.io. Read more information on sharing protocols at . Additionally, PLOS ONE offers an option for publishing peer-reviewed Lab Protocol articles, which describe protocols hosted on protocols.io. Read more information on sharing protocols at . Additionally, PLOS ONE offers an option for publishing peer-reviewed Lab Protocol articles, which describe protocols hosted on protocols.io. Read more information on sharing protocols at . Additionally, PLOS ONE offers an option for publishing peer-reviewed Lab Protocol articles, which describe protocols hosted on protocols.io. Read more information on sharing protocols at https://plos.org/protocols?utm_medium=editorial-email&utm_source=authorletters&utm_campaign=protocols....

We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

Kind regards,

Qianda Zhuang, Ph.D.

Guest Editor

PLOS One

Journal Requirements:

1. If the reviewer comments include a recommendation to cite specific previously published works, please review and evaluate these publications to determine whether they are relevant and should be cited. There is no requirement to cite these works unless the editor has indicated otherwise.

2. Please review your reference list to ensure that it is complete and correct. If you have cited papers that have been retracted, please include the rationale for doing so in the manuscript text, or remove these references and replace them with relevant current references. Any changes to the reference list should be mentioned in the rebuttal letter that accompanies your revised manuscript. If you need to cite a retracted article, indicate the article’s retracted status in the References list and also include a citation and full reference for the retraction notice.

Additional Editor Comments:

I believe the manuscript has improved a lot after the revision according to reviewers' comments. However, the language editing and polish is still required to meet the publication standards. Therefore  I recommend a thorough review and English editing of the manuscript before acceptance.

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Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

Reviewer #1: All comments have been addressed

Reviewer #3: All comments have been addressed

**********

2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions??>

Reviewer #1: Partly

Reviewer #3: Yes

**********

3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously? -->?>

Reviewer #1: (No Response)

Reviewer #3: Yes

**********

4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available??>

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.-->

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #3: Yes

**********

5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English??>

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #3: Yes

**********

Reviewer #1: Dear Author,

The observations from the first phase of the review have been addressed. By also responding to the comments of the other reviewer, the paper now appears more solid.

However, the paper still needs more careful English editing. Here is just one example: “pre-development period (circa 2000) and the post-development era (circa 2020).” Since the exact dates of data collection are provided later in the text, the formulations “circa 2000” and “circa 2020” are not the most appropriate choices.

Reviewer #3: Dear Authors,

Thank you for carefully addressing and implementing all comments and suggestions provided in my review. The revised manuscript demonstrates a clear improvement in terms of clarity, structure, and methodological consistency.

The revisions have strengthened the overall quality of the paper, and the arguments are now more coherent and convincingly supported by the analysis. In its current form, the manuscript meets the expected academic standards.

Accordingly, I consider the manuscript suitable for publication and recommend it for acceptance.

Kind regards,

**********

what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy..-->

Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #3: No

**********

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Rurality Representation and Changes in Rural Tourism Destination

PONE-D-25-26199R2

Dear Dr. Zhang,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you’ll receive an e-mail detailing the required amendments. When these have been addressed, you’ll receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will be scheduled for publication.

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Kind regards,

Qianda Zhuang, Ph.D.

Guest Editor

PLOS One

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments: