Are the Rural Visitors Relational Population or Tourists?: A Descriptive Study on the Characteristics of Rural Relational Population

Purpose: This study examines the value of ‘relational population’ as a way to counteract rural decline. Rural areas are spaces of diverse values, but due to population decline, rural areas are facing a weakening of the community base and the disappearance of localities. The concept of relational population is introduced in the process of shifting policy goals from quantitative to qualitative population expansion. Methods: This study surveyed 3,000 adults to estimate the size of the rural relational population, examine their activity behaviour and institutional support, and analyse the differences in activity behaviour between rural relational population and rural tourists. Results: As a result, four groups were identified: (1) the rural relational population, (2) rural tourists, (3) potential relational population, and (4) the unrelational population. Among them, the rural relational population was found to utilise local social ties to stay for a longer period of time compared to one-time tourists. On the other hand, tourists have superficial behaviour in terms of using local social networks and low intention to stay. On the other hand, the majority of people are unrelational and preliminary relational population, and it seems that institutional support such as environmental improvement and urban-rural exchange policies are needed to expand population. Conclusion: Based on the findings, the study explored ways to expand the relational population in terms of policy and institutions, and proposed various practical tasks to revitalize rural areas in various ways.