Grassland Tourism Evolves from Quantity- to Quality-Oriented with Lessening Ecological Disturbance: Evidence from Hulunbuir, China

Han, Lu; Wang, Boyu; Dong, Baohui; Zhao, Bochuan; Xu, Yuhui; Chang, An

doi:10.3390/su17219788

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Grassland Tourism Evolves from Quantity- to Quality-Oriented with Lessening Ecological Disturbance: Evidence from Hulunbuir, China

by

Lu Han

^1,2,

Boyu Wang

^1,*,

Baohui Dong

³,

Bochuan Zhao

⁴

,

Yuhui Xu

¹ and

An Chang

^1,2,*

¹

College of Geographical Science, Inner Mongolia Normal University, Hohhot 010022, China

²

Inner Mongolia Culture and Tourism Development Research Center, Hohhot 010022, China

³

Department of Tourism Management, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Baotou 014000, China

⁴

College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China

^*

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Sustainability 2025, 17(21), 9788; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17219788

Submission received: 9 October 2025 / Revised: 26 October 2025 / Accepted: 29 October 2025 / Published: 3 November 2025

(This article belongs to the Section Tourism, Culture, and Heritage)

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Abstract

Tourism, a key driver of regional economies and perceived “green industry,” faces challenges from irrational resource allocation and spatial overlaps, undermining sustainability. This study examines 825 tourism resources in China’s Hulunbuir Grassland, analyzing spatiotemporal patterns, influencing factors, and ecological impacts using GPP and NDVI data. Three development phases emerged: essential development, rapid growth, and upgrading. They present a spatial pattern with Hailar and Chen Barag as the center, and multiple other points, mainly affected by ethnic minority population proportions, tourist reception, tourist attraction density, and river networks. Ecological analysis reveals that tourism-induced disturbances cause less environmental stress than other human activities, with grassland NDVI in tourism areas improving during upgrading. However, the NDVI of grasslands under non-tourism disturbance is still superior to that of grasslands under tourism disturbance. The findings emphasize the need for optimized resource allocation and proactive monitoring of tourism’s ecological footprint to advance sustainable grassland tourism.

Keywords: grassland tourism; spatiotemporal patterns; ethnic culture; ecological impacts; Hulunbuir, China

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MDPI and ACS Style

Han, L.; Wang, B.; Dong, B.; Zhao, B.; Xu, Y.; Chang, A. Grassland Tourism Evolves from Quantity- to Quality-Oriented with Lessening Ecological Disturbance: Evidence from Hulunbuir, China. Sustainability 2025, 17, 9788. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17219788

AMA Style

Han L, Wang B, Dong B, Zhao B, Xu Y, Chang A. Grassland Tourism Evolves from Quantity- to Quality-Oriented with Lessening Ecological Disturbance: Evidence from Hulunbuir, China. Sustainability. 2025; 17(21):9788. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17219788

Chicago/Turabian Style

Han, Lu, Boyu Wang, Baohui Dong, Bochuan Zhao, Yuhui Xu, and An Chang. 2025. "Grassland Tourism Evolves from Quantity- to Quality-Oriented with Lessening Ecological Disturbance: Evidence from Hulunbuir, China" Sustainability 17, no. 21: 9788. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17219788

APA Style

Han, L., Wang, B., Dong, B., Zhao, B., Xu, Y., & Chang, A. (2025). Grassland Tourism Evolves from Quantity- to Quality-Oriented with Lessening Ecological Disturbance: Evidence from Hulunbuir, China. Sustainability, 17(21), 9788. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17219788

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Grassland Tourism Evolves from Quantity- to Quality-Oriented with Lessening Ecological Disturbance: Evidence from Hulunbuir, China

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