Lili Zhang, Glenn McCartney
ABSTRACT While sustainable tourism has attracted scholarly attention, understanding how resident positive empathy shapes participation in rural destinations remains underexplored. This study addresses this gap by examining sustainable tourism in a remote rural setting through the lens of positive psychology. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 25 residents in Shaxi Ancient Town, China, a rural destination recently the filming location for the drama Meet Yourself . Interview participants included government officials, private sector representatives, residents, and an NGO representative. Using deductive‐inductive thematic analysis with NVivo 15.0, findings identified five categories of perceived benefits (economic, social‐cultural, environmental, political, and empowerment) and seven sub‐industry dimensions of tourism participation. Crucially, a mutually reinforcing cycle emerges between perceived benefits and participation. As a pioneering investigation into positive empathy as a psychological mediator within Social Exchange Theory (SET), this research highlights the strategic importance of cultivating positive empathy to stimulate active participation and strengthen long‐term sustainable development commitment.