Search Results (21)

The intersection of sports and natural forests and green spaces represents an emerging interdisciplinary field with implications for public health, environmental science, and sustainable land management and refers to the variety of cultural ecosystem services demanded by people from ecosystems. This manuscript presents a systematic bibliometric and thematic analysis of 148 publications for the period 1993–2024 identified through Web of Science and Scopus, aiming to evaluate the current state of research on sports activities conducted in natural forest environments. Findings indicated a marked increase in scientific interest of this topic over the past two decades, with key contributions from countries such as England, Germany, China, and the United States. Researchers most frequently examined sports such as hiking, trail running, mountain biking, and orienteering for their capacity to provide physiological and psychological benefits, reduce stress, and enhance mental well-being. The literature analysis highlights ecological concerns, particularly those associated with habitat disturbance, biodiversity loss, and conflicts between recreation and conservation. Six principal research themes were identified: sports in urban forests, sports tourism, hunting and fishing, recreational sports, health benefits, and environmental impacts. Keyword and co-authorship analyses revealed a multidisciplinary knowledge base with evolving thematic focuses. In conclusion, the need for integrated approaches that incorporate ecological impact assessment, stakeholder perspectives, and adaptive forest governance to ensure sustainable recreational use of natural forest ecosystems is underlined. Full article

This study assessed the impact of mindful consumption on tourists’ green purchase intention and explore the mediating roles played by health consciousness, ethical self-identity, and environmental consciousness. Through an online survey, multi-source data were collected from tourists across China, and SmartPLS SEM was used for analysis to accommodate the requirements of complex models and the testing of mediating effects. The findings indicate that mindful consumption directly enhances green purchase intention and exerts an indirect effect through the mediating roles of ethical self-identity and environmental consciousness. However, the impact of health consciousness on green purchase intention was insignificant. This study is the first to link mindful consumption to tourists’ green purchasing behavior, constructing a critical framework to explore how mindful consumption influences green purchase intention. Additionally, it verifies the partial mediating roles of ethical self-identity and environmental consciousness in this process. Tourism stakeholders can utilize the proposed framework to implement strategies that promote tourists’ green purchasing behavior, therefore fostering sustainable development. Full article

In the context of the accelerating aging of the global population, there is an increasing public concern for health and wellness, accompanied by a marked rise in apprehension regarding sub-health conditions. Concurrently, forest health tourism, as a nascent form of tourism, is widely acknowledged as a pivotal avenue allowing the tourism industry to pursue a green transformation. Previous studies have explored the links between motivating, perceiving, and behaving. However, little research has examined how tourism motivation might influence the long-term sustainability of forest health tourism sites. Therefore, this study builds on the SOR theoretical framework and uses SEM to clarify the effects of tourism motivation and perceived value on forest health tourism behavior. Meanwhile, the research model incorporates attitudes as a moderating variable to ascertain their impact. A sample of 527 valid tourists from China was analyzed and the results demonstrate the following: (1) entertainment motivation and leisure motivation have a significant positive effect on forest health tourism behavioral intention; (2) prestige motivation and cultural motivation do not have a significant positive effect on forest health tourism behavioral intention; (3) perceived value mediates between entertainment, prestige, cultural, and leisure motivations and forest health tourism behavioral intention; (4) attitude moderates the relationship between perceived value and behavioral intention in forest health tourism. These insights offer a theoretical framework for industry stakeholders seeking to attract tourists and pursue environmentally friendly, sustainable growth in forest wellness tourism. This study also has important practical implications on how forest health tourism is promoted and managed. Full article

The COVID-19 pandemic caused unprecedented global disruptions, with the hotel and aviation industries—two critical pillars of tourism—among the hardest hit. This study analyzed 451 hotel-related and 336 aviation-related records from the Web of Science database, applying semantic network analysis to uncover eight clusters of crisis management knowledge: basic functions, crisis response, operational strategies, epidemic prevention and control, crisis perception, innovative services, scope of influence, and internal and external environments. Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modeling identified distinct thematic strategies for each sector. In hotels, these included Digital Innovation Transformation, Monitoring Management Procedures, Emotional Awareness Incentives, and Resilience Mechanism Establishment. In aviation, strategies focused on Green Economic Transformation, Co-creation Value Realization, Passenger Incentive Mechanisms, and Balancing Health Risks. By visualizing co-occurrence relationships and mapping thematic intersections and divergences, this study provides actionable insights into the recovery strategies of these industries. The findings offer robust support for developing targeted management approaches and decision-making frameworks to ensure the sustainable growth of the tourism sector. Full article

Regulation (EU) 2016/429 introduces comprehensive guidelines for managing transmissible animal diseases, including zoonoses. The subsequent Commission Implementing Regulation 2018/1882 categorizes these diseases into five groups, each with specific responses, ranging from mandatory eradication to optional eradication or surveillance. Key regulatory priorities include enhanced animal traceability, biosecurity, wildlife pathogen control, sustainable farming practices, and minimizing the impact of diseases on public health, animal health, and the environment. These objectives align with the European Green Deal, the Farm to Fork Strategy, the One Health approach, and the ongoing revaluation of European Inner Areas. They, including the Molise Region in Italy, are often remote, face service accessibility challenges, and suffer from depopulation and farm abandonment. Nonetheless, they hold significant potential for agropastoral and agri-food activities that can support tourism, the commercialization of local products, and recreational pursuits. Implementing optional programmes for animal diseases and zoonoses not subject to mandatory eradication could help the farms of these areas to mitigate productivity losses due to diseases like Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis and Paratuberculosis. The latter is a suspected zoonosis potentially linked to Crohn’s disease in humans. Optional programmes could enhance economic returns, counteract depopulation, support animal welfare and pasture conservation, and reduce the risk of exposure to zoonotic diseases for residents and tourists attracted by the ecological appeal of these areas. Full article

The purpose of this research is to evaluate smart experience in green health tourism with the mediating role of content marketing by using the two models of technology acceptance and hedonism. This study utilizes quantitative and causal research methods. A total of 332 respondents completed a survey conducted at two Iranian tourism hubs. Also, purposeful sampling was used for data collection. Respondents rated their perceptions of each item on a five-point Likert scale. Using the partial least squares path modeling technique, the results reveal the direct effects of smart experience on green health tourism. The findings suggest that content marketing interacts with smart experience to influence green health tourism, such that the use of smart experience in health tourism can reduce the annual costs of developing environmental protection methods. This paper thus contributes to the hospitality management theory, green tourism, and wellness literature. Full article

Currently, the integrated development of agriculture and tourism is one of the most critical strategic measures in China. The rapid growth of agricultural tourism integration presents the typical characteristics of expanding regional differences. Exploring the impact of agricultural tourism integration on the growth of green total factor productivity in agriculture has important theoretical and practical significance. This study constructs a comprehensive index system for agricultural tourism integration, measuring the development level of agricultural tourism integration in 30 sample provinces from 2008 to 2018. Using the generalized system method of moments approach and Tobit model, the impact of agricultural tourism integration on agriculture was empirically tested, and the regulatory role of rural human capital was discussed. It was found that agricultural tourism integration contributes significantly to the improvement in green total factor productivity in agriculture, with rural mobility human capital, education human capital, and health human capital all playing a significant positive moderating role in this process. Finally, it is recommended that priority be given to agricultural tourism integration in the policy framework, promoting industrial chain upgrading, raising investment in rural infrastructure, and upgrading rural human capital levels to contribute the rural economic development. Full article

Climate and anthropogenic change, particularly agricultural runoff, increase blue-green algae/cyanobacteria blooms. This article researches cyanobacteria alert-level identification, management, and risk communication in Lake Hume, Australia. Two methods, document and content analysis, evidence contamination events and risk communication, reflect water governance and data management limitations. Results found that Lake Hume had amber or red alerts for only one week, December 2021–December 2022. This failed to prevent government tourism promotion of recreational usage, contravening water authority red alert advice. Lake-use restrictions lacked compliance enforcement. Events during amber alerts lacked risk communication to vulnerable populations (children). Lake Hume’s governance by the Murray–Darling Basin Authority restricted risk communication to one authority that reproduced generic advice in minimal outlets/time points. Geophysical signage failed to address diversity needs (language, literacy, age, and disabilities). No risk communication was found for residents with diseases exacerbated by aerosolization. Despite WHO promoting cyanotoxin investigation, Australian research is absent in international literature. Further, Lake Hume cyanobacteria produce potentially carcinogenic microcystein. This coexists with census data revealing cancer rates higher than the national average in a waterside town. The results demonstrate the need to incorporate robust public health risk assessments, communication, and management into water management and advocate international legislation changes based on evidence-based research to reduce blooms and prevent agricultural runoff. Full article

Establishing a mechanism for realizing the value of ecological products is important for implementing the concept of an ecological society in China. It is a key means of acting upon the idea that green mountains and clear waters are as valuable as gold and silver, and it is a necessary requirement to promote sustainable green development and encourage harmonious coexistence between humans and nature. This article summarizes the connotations of ecological products, the accounting of ecological product value, and the progress made nationally and in Shandong province in promoting the mechanisms for realizing the value of ecological products. Based on the analysis of Shandong’s practice in various means of realizing ecological product value, such as the “forest chief system +”, “two mountain banks”, “mining ecological restoration”, “health tourism”, “ecological agriculture, culture, and tourism”, and “forest ecological compensation”, this article summarizes and proposes three types of ecological product value realization paths: government-led, government + market, and market paths. It also proposes four types of ecological product value realization modes: ecological resource indicators and equity exchanges, ecological governance and value enhancement, ecological industrial operations, and ecological protection compensation. Furthermore, this article puts forward targeted suggestions and methods for value realization in four areas: policy, technology, industry, and markets, providing an experiential reference for exploring diversified ecological product value realization in various regions of China. Full article

Walkability is a modern concept that has become important in recent years due to the doubtless effects it has on aspects such as health and wellbeing, sustainable development, climate change, and tourism. It is necessary, therefore, that urban development strategies aim to achieve walkable cities. The main objective of this study is to define a methodology to calculate the walkability index in tourist cities and to predict the effects of climate change on this index, which is applied to three World Heritage cities in central Spain: Salamanca, Ávila, and Segovia. The methodology is developed in three phases. Phase I focus on the calculation of walkability, considering the following factors: facilities and services, accessibility, sidewalk width, population density, green areas, and urban trees. In Phase II, walkability in 2020, climate-related variables were added to the previous result: temperatures, solar radiation, and shadows. Finally, the third phase, walkability under climate change pressure in 2030, 2050, and 2100, establish predictions for different climate scenarios. The results show excellent walkability indices (higher) in city centers and newly built neighborhoods and low values in the rest of the peripheral areas, industrial estates, and neighborhoods. Climate predictions showed a generalized decrease in walkability over time, even higher in the scenario with high greenhouse gas emissions. Likewise, the models can be an excellent tool for the tourist management of cities since they show the most walkable areas and, therefore, the most suitable for tourist routes. Full article

Much current discussion about the relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and mental health focuses on urban green space and rarely on historic conservation areas (HCAs). With the pandemic’s lasting influence and advances in medical technology, people’s mental health needs and attitudes toward epidemic prevention changed, and the importance of HCAs has received great attention. This study aims to explore the positive impact of heritage tourism on mental recovery under the influence of the pandemic. The Kuanzhai Alley HCA was selected as the location for the field survey and in-depth interviews. A total of 48 respondents were recruited for the semi-structured interviews, and qualitative data were analyzed through MAXQDA 2020, and the motives and mental feedback of tourists visiting Kuanzhai Alley were summarized. The results showed that there is great landscape integrity and continuity in the area. During the pandemic, the inclusive cultural atmosphere, human-based spatial scale, and cultural activities in the form of intangible heritage, such as Sichuan opera and live-action role-playing (LARP), had significant effects on eliminating loneliness, relieving anxiety, and improving happiness. The study results are expected to provide reference and guidance for current and future management of heritage tourism, social well-being, and a sustainable cultural economy. Full article

The concept of green development requires that tourism development should be constrained by water and energy. This paper first constructed the calculation model of tourism water supply (TWS) based on water resources, economy, population, and employment. Second, according to the tourism life cycle theory, the energy-related water footprint account was built and combined with energy and water consumption, to realize water-energy dual constraints. Then, a suitability model between TWS and tourism water footprint (TWF) was established. Last, this paper predicted the growth rate of tourists in Xinjiang under the “suitability” state between TWS and TWF. Results show that in a future emergency-free setting, the average annual growth rate of tourists must be below 9.63% to maintain the “suitability” state, and in the context of emergencies damaging public health or socio-economic stability, the average annual growth rate may rise to 12.79%. In any scenario, the cap on tourist numbers in Xinjiang should be around 1.326 billion person-days in 2025, in line with the government’s planning goal. Last, this paper proposed suggestions to advance the green development of tourism from three angles: strengthening water conservation policies, promoting digital tourism, and setting multiple environmental monitoring mechanisms. Full article

Both tourism and nature have been proven to contribute to people’s physical and mental health. Most studies have discussed their positive effects at the conscious level, but the unconscious mechanisms underlying these effects remain under-investigated, especially in the tourism context. Using a psychological experimental paradigm called breaking continuous flash suppression (b-CFS), this study tested how the proportion of greenery in an environment influences people’s perceptions of tourism sites and compared the effects of different proportions of greenery on participants’ unconscious responses to tourism sites. The results suggest that the presence of greenery improves the participants’ unconscious perceptions, and that this effect is due to greenery as an element of the natural world, rather than to green as a color. These findings enhance the understanding of the role that the unconscious response plays in the effect of nature on human health and may have managerial implications for the tourism industry. Full article

The aim was to explore the reserve of ecological and wellness tourism resources in the famous ecological and wellness base Hong Kong Wetland Park and further construct a systematic index system for the evaluation of ecological and wellness tourism resources in wetland parks. The DHGF algorithm was used to conduct hierarchical factor weighting analysis on ecotourism resource-related factors. The study showed that in terms of the index weights of ecological permaculture tourism resources in wetland parks, the highest weight was assigned to the permaculture tourism resources’ own conditions. According to the evaluation system of eco-health tourism resources, the comprehensive evaluation score of eco-health tourism resources of Hong Kong Wetland Park is 7.673, and the comprehensive evaluation level is grade II (good). Based on the in-depth analysis of the evaluation results, it is proposed to establish a standardized government management system, explore ecological and health tourism resources with the concept of “original ecology and green health”, cultivate “recreation and health tourism + ecological health” composite professionals in Hong Kong and Macao, and create the recommendations, including the establishment of a four-dimensional integration of “ecology + health + health + tourism” in the Greater Bay Area. Full article

State-owned forest resources occupy an important position in China, and the development of their paid use will help to improve the economic benefits of these resources. For this study, 451 journal documents involving the paid use of state-owned forest resources in the CNKI database of China from 2008 to 2021 were selected as samples. Combining qualitative reviews with quantitative analysis, statistical analysis software was used as an analytical tool. The knowledge maps can be visualized by cluster analysis, multidimensional scaling (MDS), and co-occurrence network analysis. The change laws of this research in the time dimension were obtained using developing trend analysis. The results are as follows: 1. The number of research documents on the paid use of state-owned forest resources is increasing. 2. The core authors account for 29.27%; the research impact is relatively scattered. 3. Research institutions are primarily colleges and universities. 4. The support of provincially funded projects accounts for the highest proportion. 5. There is a relatively stable number of journals in this research field. Forestry Economy, Green Science and Technology and China Forestry Economy are the top three journals in terms of citation impact. 6. The existing research topics mainly focus on the development status of paid use, forest tourism and forest health, and the under-forestry economy (under-forestry planting, breeding, and product processing). 7. The intermediary centralities of state-owned forest farms and under-forestry economy are the highest, followed by forest tourism and forest experience, etc. With time and the promulgation of policies, the research focus in this field has gradually shifted from forest assets and forestry economics to ecotourism and forest health, and research on forest carbon sequestration is a technical branch worthy of attention in the future. Full article