Abstract: The Yangtze River Delta(YRD) integration strategy has brought new opportunities for the development of rural tourism in Anhui Province, and the development strategy for rural tourism in Anhui Province has been widely discussed during this new development stage. The Delphi-SWOT-AHP model was used to conduct qualitative and quantitative analysis on the strategic positioning of rural tourism development in Anhui Province. 16 factors influencing the development of rural tourism in Anhui Province were identified using the SWOT model. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) structure model was then built with the Yaahp software to calculate the SWOT development strategic strength and type orientation angles, and the strategic type strength map was drawn. The results show that the development of rural tourism in Anhui Province should adopt a proactive growth-oriented development strategy (S-O strategy). While seizing the opportunity of integrated development of the YRD and promoting multilateral cooperation in rural tourism regions, we should also strengthen the construction of the rural tourism governance system and create distinctive brands of rural cultural tourism to promote the high-quality development of rural tourism in Anhui Province.

Key words: rural tourism, Delphi-SWOT-AHP, integrated development strategy, Anhui Province, the Yangtze River Delta