In order to explore the relationship between social capital and rural tourism development effect and improve the development of rural tourism,this study takes Liutai Village in Shandong Province,9 villages of Mangxin Township and Yuanyi Village in Xinjiang as examples and conducts empirical research.The result of exploratory factor analysis shows that social capital is divided into bonding type and bridging type,which have different characteristics and functions.The result of multiple regression analysis shows that social capital of both the two types has a significant positive impact on the development of rural tourism.In the current process of rural tourism development,the positive influence of bonding social capital is greater than that of bridging social capital.Based on the results of the empirical analysis,this paper puts forward the countermeasures and suggestions for the development of rural tourism.