Search Results (88)

Amid ongoing societal development, tourists’ travel behavior patterns have been undergoing substantial transformations, and understanding their evolution has emerged as a key area of scholarly interest. Taking Beijing as a case study, this research aims to uncover the spatiotemporal evolution patterns of tourist flows and their underlying driving mechanisms. Based on digital footprint relational data, a dual-perspective analytical framework—“tourist perception–tourist flow network”—is constructed. By integrating the center-of-gravity model, social network analysis, and regression models, the study systematically examines the dynamic spatial structure of tourist flows in Beijing from 2012 to 2024. The findings reveal that in the post-pandemic period, Beijing tourists place greater emphasis on the cultural connotation and experiential aspects of destinations. The gravitational center of tourist flows remains relatively stable, with core historical and cultural blocks retaining strong appeal, though a slight shift has occurred due to policy influences and emerging attractions. The evolution of the spatial network structure reveals that tourism flows have become more dispersed, while the influence of core scenic spots continues to intensify. Government policy orientation, tourism information retrieval, and the agglomeration of tourism resources significantly promote the structure of tourist flows, whereas the general level of tourism resources exerts no notable influence. These findings offer theoretical insights and practical guidance for the sustainable development and regional coordination of tourism in Beijing, and provide a valuable reference for the spatial restructuring of urban tourism in the post-COVID-19 era. Full article

Amid global rural tourism growth and rural revitalization policies, traditional villages’ resource protection and tourism development have drawn international academic attention. To guide villages’ resource planning and management, this study constructed an evaluation index system of cultural, ecological, industrial, talent, and organizational amenities in traditional villages from the perspective of tourists’ perceptions using grounded theory and measured the spatial agglomeration differences, synergistic effects and their influencing factors of traditional village amenities by using location entropy, spatial autocorrelation, and gray correlation degree analysis. The results show that (1) the spatial distributions of cultural, ecological, industrial, and organizational amenities are more balanced, while talent amenities exhibit a more concentrated distribution. (2) The spatial concentration of amenities in traditional villages has a strong positive spatial correlation, the agglomeration level of the high-high type of concentration is distributed in clusters, the low–low type tends to be contiguous, and the low–high type is distributed sporadically around the high–high type; significant synergy between ecological and industrial amenities, and organizations play a supportive role in the spatial agglomeration of cultural, ecological, ecological and talent amenities. (3) Gross regional product, slope, and distance to 3A and above scenic spots significantly influence the spatial agglomeration of amenities. This study provides reference for the sustainable development of traditional villages from the perspectives of exerting agglomeration and radiation effects, synergistically promoting villages’ development, constructing the memory symbol system, and integrating the resource structural system based on the spatial agglomeration difference characteristics of traditional village amenities. Full article

In the post-pandemic era, tourism is recovering and historical and cultural scenic spots are highly favored but face serious homogenization and fierce competition. It is clear to both the industry and in academia that brand image building through social media is the key to relieving the situation; however, existing studies are mostly undertaken from the perspective of branding, often ignoring the use of brand equity theory in evaluating the brand image of such scenic spots. Based on the social media perspective, this study proposes and validates a set of brand image assessment frameworks for historical and cultural scenic spots centered on brand awareness, satisfaction, and reputation, which provides a scientific basis for scenic spot branding. The study constructs a multidimensional index system, utilizes the fuzzy optimal inferiority method and the TOPSIS hybrid evaluation model, and takes six historical and cultural scenic spots in Xi’an, China, as samples for quantitative and qualitative evaluation. By analyzing the rankings of these scenic spots, this study provides suggestions on how to publicize and shape brand images on social media platforms. These suggestions can enhance scenic spots’ competitiveness, leading to increased tourist flow, improved economic benefits, and enhanced cultural preservation efforts. This, in turn, contributes to the long-term, sustainable development of historical tourism destinations, addressing socio-economic and cultural challenges in a more targeted manner. Full article

As a key region in China’s “dual carbon” strategy, the Yangtze River Delta region faces the dual challenge of sustaining tourism-driven economic growth and achieving significant emission reductions. Based on panel data of the Yangtze River Delta region from 2000 to 2022, this paper adopts the “bottom-up” method to measure the carbon emissions of tourism transportation. It systematically analyzes its spatiotemporal evolution, decoupling effect, and driving mechanism. The results showed that (1) regional carbon emissions showed a trend of “first rising and then decreasing”. The spatial distribution changed from “high in the east and low in the west” to central agglomeration, and the hot spots of high emissions continued to concentrate in Shanghai and its surrounding cities, reaching a peak in 2019. (2) The decoupling state is mainly weak decoupling. The environmental Kuznets curve verified that carbon emissions and the tourism economy showed an inverted U-shaped relationship, and the decoupling levels of cities were significantly different. (3) Gross Domestic Product and the scale of tourist flow of cultural facilities (grey correlation degree 0.925) are the core positive drivers. In contrast, the travel ratio (contribution value −215.9) and the scale of passenger flow in A-class scenic spots (correlation degree 0.876) are the key inhibiting factors. This paper proposes a three-pronged policy framework of “energy structure optimization—cross-city carbon compensation—cultural and tourism integration” to provide theoretical and empirical support for the low-carbon transformation of urban agglomerations. Full article

Balancing tourism seasonality remains a significant challenge in the management of tourist attractions. Despite existing research on the impact of seasonality from the perspectives of tourist intention cognition and spatial theory, gaps still exist in the relevant literature. This study examines 16 5A-level scenic spots in China with peak season, flat season, and off-season themes, utilizing 8385 tourist reviews from Ctrip.com as data. The LDA topic model is employed to analyze tourism destination image (TDI) under seasonality of destination, and the spatial level (SLs) model is combined to analyze the spatial hierarchy of these images. The findings reveal an association between TDI and SLs under seasonality of destination. For instance, peak season TDI themes (e.g., ‘viewing the scenery’) exhibit a support level of 0.789, while off-season themes (e.g., ‘relaxed itinerary’) reach 0.682, reflecting tourists’ prioritization of functional versus psychological dimensions across seasons. The proposed TDI-SLs correlation theory bridges supply-side spatial resource allocation with tourists’ perceptual dynamics, offering a novel framework to rebalance seasonal demand–supply gaps through strategic spatial planning and image recalibration. Practically, this framework guides destination managers to design season-specific strategies, such as optimizing crowd management in peak seasons or promoting immersive experiences in off-seasons. Full article

Spatial distribution is a critical factor influencing the success or failure of hotel management. This study examines the spatial distribution patterns of foreign star-rated hotels in China from 2000 to 2015 based on 27 typical city cases, using global and local spatial autocorrelation methods within GIS spatial analysis. The research explores the evolution of these patterns, analyzes key characteristics, and combines these insights with a stepwise regression method. Pearson correlation analysis is used to identify factors that influence the evolution of the spatial pattern. This study reveals that, first, the Z-value of global spatial autocorrelation of foreign star-rated hotels in China decreases from 2.38 to 1.63, indicating that the spatial distribution of foreign star-rated hotels in China has shifted from imbalanced to balanced, transitioning from economically developed regions such as areas with overseas Chinese populations, provincial capitals, and municipalities directly under central government control, toward tourist cities. Second, star-rated hotels hold a critical position within the spatial pattern, highlighting their central role in shaping the hospitality landscape. Third, the spatial distribution of foreign star-rated hotels is primarily influenced by the number of inbound tourists, followed by the presence of scenic spots rated 4A and above. The influence of other factors is found to be less significant. Fourth, the correlation coefficient between tourism demand and foreign star-rated hotels increased by 0.004, whereas the correlation coefficient between tourism supply and foreign star-rated hotels decreased by 0.036, indicating that market factors are playing an increasingly important role in shaping the evolution of foreign star-rated hotels in China, reflecting broader market dynamics. This study provides practical guidance for local Chinese hotels facing competition from foreign-funded establishments and offers theoretical insight into the strategic implementation of transnational operations. It points out the expansion direction of local Chinese hotels across different developmental stages. Full article

Tourism carrying capacity in scenic areas refers to the maximum number of visitors a site can accommodate while maintaining safety and ensuring a satisfactory visitor experience. Effective management of carrying capacity is crucial for ecological preservation, operational efficiency, and visitor safety. This study focuses on the Maiji Mountain Grottoes in China, employing both simulation and field experiments to examine how varying walking speeds and queue formations affect the site’s carrying capacity. Simulation results reveal that, compared to lateral queue formations, linear queue formations exert a more pronounced negative impact on carrying capacity, with an impact coefficient of 0.56. Field observations further demonstrate that carrying capacity is closely tied to visitor activity patterns. This study introduces more innovative ideas: one is the strategy of zoning analysis within the same scenic spot, and the other is a more careful consideration of tourist queue formation. The findings provide valuable methodological insights for future research on tourism carrying capacity and for developing strategies to enhance tourist management in scenic areas. Full article

This study considers Jinniu Lake (JNL), the biggest artificial lake and National Water Conservancy Scenic Spot (WCSS) in Nanjing, as an example to analyze the determinants of tourists’ willingness to pay (WTP) and satisfaction, as well as their pro-environmental behavior from a ‘tourist perceived value’ perspective (i.e., function, emotional, social, and epistemic), and then estimate the non-use value of JNL using the contingent valuation method (CVM). A total of 321 valid responses to questionnaires were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) with the obtained results indicating the following: (1) JNL possesses a relatively high non-use value, influenced by emotional value, function value, social value, and epistemic value. (2) Satisfaction mediates the relationships between perceived value and WTP. (3) Education level, monthly travel frequency, and past visit frequency are all significantly positively correlated with WTP. In conclusion, strengthening tourists’ emotional and functional identification within destinations is conducive to improving visitor satisfaction and inspiring their pro-environmental behavior, ultimately feeding back into the development of the scenic area through WTP, achieving imitable ecological–economic circular development. Full article

Tourists’ near-field passive perception and identification in mountain areas faces challenges related to long distances, small targets, varied-pose scenarios, facial occlusion, etc. To address this issue, this paper proposes an innovative technical framework based on a face-to-body (F2B) two-step iterative method aimed at enhancing the passive perception and tracking of tourists in complex mountain environments by integrating and coordinating body features with facial features. The F2B technical framework comprises three main components: target feature acquisition, multi-feature coupled re-identification, and target positioning and tracking. Initially, the faces and bodies of tourists are extracted from real-time video streams using the RetinaFace and YOLOX models, respectively. The ArcFace model is then employed to extract the facial features of the target tourists, linking them with the faces detected by RetinaFace. Subsequently, a multi-feature database is constructed using the Hungarian algorithm to facilitate the automatic matching of the face and body of the same tourist. Finally, the Fast-ReID model and a spatial position algorithm are utilized for the re-identification of tourist targets and tracking their dynamic paths. Based on public and actual scene datasets, deployment and testing in the Yimeng Mountain Scenic Area have demonstrated that the accuracy index AP of the F2B model reaches 88.03%, with a recall of 90.28%, achieving an overall identification accuracy of approximately 90% and a false alarm rate of less than 5%. This result significantly improves the accuracy of SOTA facial recognition models in the complex environments of mountainous scenic spots. It effectively addresses the challenges associated with the low identification accuracy of non-cooperative targets in these areas through a ground video sensing network. Furthermore, it offers technical support for spatiotemporal information regarding near-field passive perception and path tracking of tourists in mountain scenic spots and showcasing broad application prospects. Full article

This study focuses on Xuanwu Lake Park and Purple Mountain National Forest Park in Nanjing to explore the impact of leisure furniture as a single landscape element on the visual landscape evaluation and sustainable tourism experience. In previous studies, researchers paid more attention to the overall beauty of landscape and its impact on tourists’ experiences, and there was a lack of studies on the role of a single landscape element (such as leisure furniture) in enhancing landscape beauty and tourists’ experiences. This study addresses gaps in the literature by isolating leisure furniture from other landscape elements in order to assess its unique contribution to aesthetic appeal and the various dimensions of a sustainable tourism experience, including sensory, emotional, cognitive, and operational aspects. Using Schmitt’s five-dimensional Strategic Experiential Model as the framework and combining the dual methods of visual assessments and visitor surveys, an assessment team consisting of 40 members was formed to evaluate the visual landscape of leisure furniture in two major scenic spots, and 492 valid questionnaires were collected and analyzed to study the impact of leisure furniture on tourists’ experiences. The findings reveal that leisure furniture significantly enhances visitors’ aesthetic evaluations and sensory experiences at Xuanwu Lake National Forest Park. However, suboptimally designed leisure furniture at Purple Mountain National Forest Park negatively affects both the visual appeal and sensory experience of visitors. Nevertheless, in both locations, leisure furniture positively impacts emotional and operational experiences, highlighting its role in promoting relaxation and interaction among visitors. This study provides practical insights for landscape designers and urban planners regarding the importance of carefully designing and positioning leisure furniture to optimize aesthetic and experiential outcomes. It also provides certain enlightenment and insights for future exploration of the impacts of other landscape elements (such as vegetation, water, lighting, etc.) on visual landscape evaluations and visitors’ experiences. Full article

The collaborative use of camera near-field sensors for monitoring the number and status of tourists is a crucial aspect of smart scenic spot management. This paper proposes a near-field perception technical system that achieves dynamic and accurate detection of tourist targets in mountainous scenic areas, addressing the challenges of real-time passive perception and safety management of tourists. The technical framework involves the following steps: Firstly, real-time video stream signals are collected from multiple cameras to create a distributed perception network. Then, the YOLOX network model is enhanced with the CBAM module and ASFF method to improve the dynamic recognition of preliminary tourist targets in complex scenes. Additionally, the BYTE target dynamic tracking algorithm is employed to address the issue of target occlusion in mountainous scenic areas, thereby enhancing the accuracy of model detection. Finally, the video target monocular spatial positioning algorithm is utilized to determine the actual geographic location of tourists based on the image coordinates. The algorithm was deployed in the Tianmeng Scenic Area of Yimeng Mountain in Shandong Province, and the results demonstrate that this technical system effectively assists in accurately perceiving and spatially positioning tourists in mountainous scenic spots. The system demonstrates an overall accuracy in tourist perception of over 90%, with spatial positioning errors less than 1.0 m and a root mean square error (RMSE) of less than 1.14. This provides auxiliary technical support and effective data support for passive real-time dynamic precise perception and safety management of regional tourist targets in mountainous scenic areas with no/weak satellite navigation signals. Full article

The pro-environmental behavior of tourists is an important guarantee for the sustainable development of ecotourism scenic spots. This article is based on 806 tourist survey data from two ecotourism scenic spots, making use of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and the structural equation model (SEM) to explore the impact of tourist experience quality on tourists’ pro-environmental behavior. The research findings indicate that (1) the quality of the tourist experience is an important factor affecting the formation of place attachment; (2) the quality of tourism experience directly and positively affects place dependence, and indirectly affects place identity through the mediating factor of place dependence; and (3) the direct impact of tourist experience quality on tourists’ pro-environmental behavior is significant, with place attachment playing a mediating role. This article provides inspiration for scenic spots to encourage tourists to engage in pro-environmental behavior. In the process of stimulating tourists to engage in pro-environmental behaviors, ecotourism scenic spots should pay more attention to the tourist experiences and emotional experiences. Scenic spots should make more efforts to improve the quality of the tourist experience, so that tourists can develop a sense of dependence on ecotourism scenic spots, gradually form self-identification with the scenic spots, and engage in environmentally friendly behavior, helping to achieve the sustainable development of ecotourism scenic spots. Full article

Urban public recreation space (UPRS) is an integral part of the urban public space system. With the rise of urban tourism, these areas have evolved into important spaces for leisure and entertainment, serving both residents and tourists. However, the extent to which these spaces are shared by the two groups remains unclear. This study quantified the level of UPRS equally shared by residents and tourists in Wuhan, China, using geotagged check-in data from 74 UPRS. We evaluated and compared the resident–tourist sharing degree across various types of UPRS and explored its influencing factors using multiple linear regression (MLR). The results indicated the following: (1) The sharing degree was at a moderate level and it varied significantly across different types of UPRS. (2) Characteristic streets had the highest sharing degree, followed by cultural spaces, urban parks, and tourist scenic spots. (3) The number of nearby tourist attractions, road density, and number of transport stops positively affected sharing degree. These findings suggest that the combination layout of UPRS with other tourist attractions and enhanced accessibility can effectively improve the shared usage of UPRS. Full article

With the development of positioning technology and the widespread application of mobile positioning terminal devices, the acquisition of trajectory data has become increasingly convenient. Furthermore, mining information related to scenic spots and tourists from trajectory data has also become increasingly convenient. This study used the normalization results of information entropy to evaluate the attraction of scenic spots and the experience index of tourists. Tourists and scenic spots were chosen as the probability variables to calculate information entropy, and the probability values of each variable were calculated according to certain methods. There is a certain competitive relationship between scenic spots of the same type. When the distance between various scenic spots is relatively close (less than 8 km), a strong cooperative relationship can be established. Scenic spots with various levels of attraction can generally be classified as follows: cultural heritage, natural landscape, and leisure and entertainment. Scenic spots with higher attraction are usually those with a higher A-level and convenient transportation. A considerable number of tourists do not choose to visit crowded scenic destinations but choose some spots that they are more interested in according to personal preferences and based on access to free travel. Full article

This study investigates the elements that influence the quality of cultural and tourism services in the Huizhou region, seeking to improve the region’s tourism competitiveness and revive the growth of the local rural tourism industry based on the background of cultural and tourism integration. This article builds an evaluation index system for the influencing variables of culture and tourism service quality by choosing 20 indicators from three categories: public service quality, cultural service quality, and tourism industry performance. The entropy weight Topsis method is employed to assess the service quality of three districts and five counties in the Huizhou area, which serves as the research object. Research has shown that (1) the number of five-star hotels, the number of A-level scenic spots, and the number of overseas tourists received have a significant weight, and these have become important factors affecting the effective supply of high-quality rural tourism; (2) there is a significant difference in the quality of cultural and tourism services in different areas across the Huizhou region, with Tunxi District and Yi County having the highest level of service quality, while Qimen County and Jixi County have the lowest level; (3) The overall quality of cultural and tourism services in Huizhou region is relatively high, with six districts and counties rated medium or above, accounting for about 75% of the total. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the infrastructure construction, improve the quality of public services, maintain the local and regional culture, accelerate the integration of culture and tourism, and enhance the high-quality development of regional tourism in Huizhou. Full article