In the era of big data, network text analysis has become an important means of studying tourists’ travel preferences. This study takes Wuyuan County as the research object, adopts network text analysis method, uses Octopus Collector to collect Wuyuan travel notes on relevant tourism websites, and uses ROST CM6 text mining software to perform word frequency analysis, semantic network analysis and sentiment analysis to explore the tourist preferences of rural tourism destination Wuyuan. The study found that as a sample of rural tourism, Wuyuan tourists’ preference is concentrated on tourism elements such as rape flower and Huangling, which is the core advantage of the characteristic development of the scenic spot. At the same time, insufficient transportation infrastructure limits tourists’ desire to visit, and the reception capacity of scenic spots needs to be improved urgently. The research results can promote Wuyuan to enhance its tourist attraction and provide reference for image shaping and marketing of other rural tourist destinations.