COVID-19 has led to the interruption of personnel flow, and the tourism industry has become one of the most seriously affected industries. With the gradual improvement of the domestic epidemic situation, the tourism industry has recovered in various provinces and regions, but that recovery shows the characteristics of temporal and spatial heterogeneity. From the perspective of “resilience”, this study characterizes the resistance and recovery of the tourism industry in the face of the epidemic impact, analyzes the trends of change, spatial pattern and phased characteristics of tourism resilience, and explores the factors influencing the differences in tourism resilience. The results indicate that China's tourism industry shows obvious resilience characteristics, and the trend of tourism resilience in most provinces and regions fluctuates and rises. For example, Gansu, Hainan, Guizhou, Hebei and Shandong have a high level of comprehensive toughness, while Tibet, Ningxia, Shanxi and Beijing have a very low level of comprehensive toughness, and most other provinces and regions show the characteristic pattern of “weak in the north and strong in the south”. This study shows that China's tourism resilience has experienced three stages: hard resistance, accelerated recovery and increasing with fluctuation. The resistance of the tourism industry to the impact of the epidemic is generally weak, and the ability to recover is significantly variable. The severity of the epidemic, the strictness of prevention and control policies, the joint influences of tourist source-destination, tourism foundation, geographical location and other factors will have a certain impact on tourism resilience.
The landscape spatial pattern in Sanjiangyuan region has changed substantially over the past 50 years. This study analysed the implications of variations in grassland, wetland, desert, and forest landscapes during 1970-2020 for ecotourism development in the Sanjiangyuan region by applying satellite remote sensing data, and discussed the factors driving these changes through a literature analysis. The results show that the areas of the four landscape types accounted for 89.7% of the total area of the Sanjiangyuan region in 2020. The most widely distributed landscape type was grassland (71.95%), followed by wetland and desert, and then forest. Under the influence of climate change and human activities, the proportion of these four landscape types increased by 5.01% during 1970-2020. Grassland experienced the largest increase, followed by wetland. In contrast, forests have decreased by 0.83%, and deserts have decreased by 2.79%. The landscape structures of the 17 districts are similar, and they have changed little over the past 50 years. This landscape pattern indicated an overall homogeneity that poses challenges to ecotourism development among those counties, especially with regard to grassland ecotourism, which needs to be a concern of managers.
Implementing the concept of green development would help the tourism traditional villages to solve problems such as the deterioration of the ecological environment, the changing of traditional culture, the loss of original landscape, and others. Taking the six tourism traditional villages in Beijing as a case study, this study explored the best green scenario by considering the perceptions of stakeholders and constructed the green revitalization mode of tourism traditional villages by the scenario analysis method and other methods. The results show three key aspects of tourism traditional village development scenarios. (1) From the perspective of future development scenarios, the specific characteristics and objective functions of the basic development scenario are different in the economic revitalization scenario and the green revitalization scenario, the economic revitalization scenario and the green revitalization scenario are different. (2) From the perspective of the stakeholders’ perceptions of different scenario plans, the future development of the case villages will change to varying degrees under the different scenario plans. However, no matter where the traditional villages are in the tourism life cycle, the green development scenario is the best choice. (3) Finally, this article constructed a five-in-one model of the green revitalization of tourism traditional villages with green economy as the key, traditional culture as the core, ecological civilization as the basis, village communities as the agent, and external policies as the guarantee. The research results aim to enrich the theory of green development and rural tourism, and provide theoretical reference and scientific guidance for the green revitalization of tourism traditional villages.
Watershed ecological compensation is an important means to protect the ecological environment and an important part of China’s ecological civilization construction. It can promote the sustainable and coordinated development of a region, enhance the advantages of the ecological environment in the upstream area, and lay the foundation for the high-quality development of ecological tourism in the upstream area. The accurate evaluation of the effect and efficiency of ecological compensation is a prerequisite for optimizing and perfecting the ecological compensation system. In order to evaluate the effect and efficiency of watershed ecological compensation, this paper used the case study area of Anyuan County, an important ecological area of the Dongjiangyuan watershed in the pilot area of China’s interprovincial watershed ecological compensation. This paper established an evaluation index system, used the entropy method and the data envelopment analysis (DEA) method to construct a watershed ecological compensation effect and efficiency evaluation model, and selected the ecological compensation index data from 2015 to 2020 to evaluate the effect and efficiency. This paper also constructed an econometric model to analyze their driving factors. The results showed that the effect of watershed ecological compensation was generally on the rise. Low pure technical efficiency (PTE) was the main reason for low comprehensive efficiency (CE), and the management efficiency of ecological compensation projects needs to be improved. The overall performance of scale efficiency (SE) was good, but there was still a problem of capital redundancy. Ecological compensation expenditure had a significant negative impact on the efficiency of ecological compensation, and ecotourism had a significant positive impact on the effect and efficiency of the ecological compensation. The results of this study can provide a scientific basis and theoretical reference for improving the effect and efficiency of watershed ecological compensation schemes.
Regional tourism needs to respond positively to the “carbon peak and neutrality” target, and the key and most difficult aspect is the prediction of carbon emissions. In this paper, the total carbon emissions of the tourism industry in Jiangxi Province from 2000 to 2019 are calculated by using terminal consumption and the tourism development coefficient. The factors influencing the carbon emissions of the tourism industry are studied by means of logarithmic mean weight Divisia index decomposition (LMDI), and the timing of the tourism industry carbon peak is predicted by combining the extensible random environmental impact assessment model (STIRPAT) and scenario analysis method. The results show three key aspects of this system. (1) In the historical period, the carbon emissions of the tourism industry in Jiangxi Province increased from 71.365×104 t in 2000 to 2342.456×104 t in 2019, with an average annual change rate of 21.09%. The scale of tourism investment was the most important factor affecting the carbon emissions of tourism industry in this period. (2) The main factor that will affect the change of tourism carbon emissions in Jiangxi Province in the future is the carbon emission intensity, and its influence coefficient reaches 0.810. The degrees of influence of tourism income, tourism number and tourism investment follow in sequence. (3) The peak time of carbon emissions from tourism in Jiangxi Province varies under different scenarios. In the baseline scenario, it is estimated to be around 2035, and the average annual change rate will be -0.88%. In the medium- and low-carbon scenarios, the peak carbon emissions will be realized around 2030 and 2025, with the average annual change rates being -1.11% and -1.58%, respectively, indicating that the government’s low-carbon policy will have an impact on the carbon emission intensity of tourism and promote the tourism industry in Jiangxi Province to advance by 5 to 10 years. This study provides a theoretical basis for allowing regional tourism to achieve its carbon peak in advance, which supports the prediction of the whole country’s “carbon peak and neutrality”, and also provides a measurement basis for the realization of carbon neutralization in tourism.
This study analyzed the changes in ecotourism flow in Hunan Province before and after the COVID-19 epidemic by obtaining the ecotourism route data for 2019 and 2020 from online tourism platforms such as wasp nest, poor travel, Ctrip, tuniu and qunar, and determining geographical distribution characteristics, node characteristics and network characteristics with the help of software such as UCINET, Netdraw and ArcGIS. The results revealed major changes in spatial distribution, the roles of nodes, and the structure and composition of the flow network. (1) COVID-19 has changed the spatial distribution pattern of ecotourism flows in Hunan Province. Under the influence of the epidemic, the spatial geographical concentration trend in Hunan Province decreased from 30.42 in 2019 to 28.94 in 2020, the flow in the North weakened, and the hot spots shifted to the south. In order to promote the development of global tourism in Hunan Province, we should focus on how to correctly handle the differences in tourism resources and the imbalance in tourism development between the Xiangxi region and other tourism regions. (2) The COVID-19 epidemic triggered changes of the roles of some nodes in the ecotourism flow network in Hunan Province. The comprehensive efficiency value of the node decreased from 266 to 222, indicating that crisis events such as the epidemic have caused damage to the ecotourism flow in Hunan Province, and the surrounding low-density ecotourism sites with good natural scenery have become more favored by tourists after the COVID-19 epidemic. (3) The COVID-19 situation has affected the structure and composition of the ecotourism flow network in Hunan Province. The overall network density of ecotourism flow in Hunan Province increased from 0.18 to 0.14, the degree of separation between ecotourism destinations increased, and tourists’ demand for health and safety has driven the development of ecotourism flow in Hunan Province towards multinode and multiregional characteristics.
Forest-based wellness (FBW), the enhancement of health and well-being through activities in forested environments, is growing rapidly in China. This paper examines the demand for such experiences based on a survey of mainly young and middle-aged Beijing residents using quantitative analytical methods. There is a widespread demand for forest health and wellness which is considered in three parts: physical and mental health needs, demand for forest health and wellness products, and forest health and wellness destinations. Young and middle-aged people have more obvious needs for relaxation and stress release, whereas middle-aged and elderly people focus mainly on improving immunity and sleep quality, and alleviating cervical and lumbar spine diseases. Respondents prefer experience-based products, and “environment quality”, “infrastructure construction” and “professionals and their service quality” are particularly important. There is a significant positive correlation among the three types of demand. Finally, based on the characteristics of Beijing’s forest health and wellness needs, suggestions are provided for forest-based health products and tourism development.
The theory of health fairness requires that improving the benefits of green spaces on health should take into account the characteristics of vulnerable groups such as older adults. Until now, the comprehensive associations of green spaces metrics with older adults’ mental health are unclear in China. This study aimed to systematically assess their associations from the perspective of spatiality, sociality and historicality. Data of 879 respondents aged 60 or older in Dalian, China were used, and multilevel linear models were conducted in HLM6.08. Results indicated that in the spatial dimension, green spaces metrics derived from overhead view had a stronger association with older adults’ mental health than from street view. The park with gentle slopes and irregular boundaries was more positively related to older adults’ mental health. In the social dimension, green spaces could adjust and buffer the negative effects of socio-demographic characteristics such as having no homeownership. In the historical dimension, green spaces had a lasting effect on older adults’ mental health, especially for the group of middle income. Our findings confirm the necessity of multidimensional assessments for green spaces to examine associations with older adults’ mental health in Chinese settings. The results can provide empirical evidence for realizing fairer allocation of urban green spaces resources taking into account individual differences.
With the rise of wine consumption in China, wine tourism is becoming increasingly popular. Research shows that wine resource development is profoundly impacted by tourist perception and satisfaction. To precisely understand the process and mechanism of tourists’ attitudes and preferences toward wine tourism resources in China, this paper employed a questionnaire survey to explore tourists’ perceptions of local wine tourism and resources from five dimensions by analyzing feedback from wine tourists in the east foothill of the Helan Mountain Wine Region of Ningxia. The main findings are threefold. (1) As emerging experiential tourism, wine tourism has distinct demographic characteristics in terms of income, age and the methods of travel. (2) Wine tourism resources are the most important factors influencing tourist satisfaction, while functional comfort is also highlighted for its charm and value. In addition, the quality of services has a significant impact on tourists’ support for wine tourism. (3) Remarkably, the findings show that the facilities condition, ecological environment and resource conservation exert little influence on tourist perception of wine tourism. However, these factors also deserve to be stressed for their important roles in establishing a positive atmosphere of wine tourism development. The results of this study have enriched our knowledge of wine tourism resource development and tourist perception.
Leshan City is rich in ecological tourism resources. The evaluation of their potential for exploitation can provide scientific guidance for the development of ecological tourism resources in the city. Based on the analytic hierarchy process and grey theory, seven counties in Leshan City were selected as the basis for constructing the evaluation system of ecotourism resource exploitation potential from four aspects: tourism resource conditions, tourism resource exploitation conditions, tourism resource development benefits and tourism resource value. Through the comprehensive evaluation and sorting of the development potential of ecotourism resources in the city, the order of priority for the exploitation of ecotourism resources in the region was determined. According to the results of the model calculations, the exploitation potentials of ecotourism resources in the seven counties and districts in Leshan City could be divided into three levels. Among them, Muchuan County, Emeishan City, Ebian Yi Autonomous County and Mabian Yi Autonomous County are the first-level ecotourism resource exploitation zones; Jinkouhe District is at the second-level; and Jingyan County and Jiajiang County have the least exploitation potential as the third-level ecotourism resource exploitation zone. The results of this evaluation are approximately consistent with the actual situation of Leshan City, which indicates that the evaluation of the exploitation potential of ecotourism resources in this region based on the multi-hierarchy grey method can provide a theoretical basis for helping Leshan City to build characteristic ecotourism products, so that it can serve as a new development anchor for building a globally important tourist destination.
National forest parks are important ecotourism destinations for locals and out-of-town visitors worldwide. The increase in protected areas is accompanied by challenges. The major challenge is the tension between conservation and exploitation. However, over-exploitation is causing irreversible damage to tourism resources by neglecting to accelerate conservation and satisfying the needs of only tourists. Therefore, it is a prerequisite to evaluate the value of ecotourism resources, especially non-use values. Liugong Island National Forest Park is a seaside forest park in Shandong Province, China. Tourist activities have negatively impacted the amenity and values of the park and increased management and maintenance costs. This study aimed to enhance the protection awareness of ecotourism resources by evaluating non-use values with the contingent valuation method (CVM). Ecotourism attitude factors were extracted by factor analysis, and the ecotourism market was segmented by cluster analysis. Then, an empirical assessment model was designed. Furthermore, through a double-bounded dichotomous choice model of the CVM, non-use values of ecotourism resources were estimated, and differences in non-use values among the groups with different attitudes were discussed. The results indicated that (1) Tourists with conservation backgrounds tended to pay more for general non-use values, while high-income tourists were willing to pay more for the Altruistic value; (2) The willingness to pay (WTP) of tourists was highest for the Bequest value, followed by the Existence value or Altruistic value, and finally the Option value; (3) The WTP was highest for the group valuing pluralism, followed by the group concerning resources, and lowest for the group concerning the environment. This study can provide valuable information for ecotourism planning and management that corresponds to current issues and tourist needs.
The spatial cluster effect of productive service industry agglomeration and the urban productivity level in 286 prefecture level cities in China during 2008-2018 were analyzed by using the Moran index and the Lisa cluster diagram. The results show that the spatial correlation between productive service industry agglomeration and urban productivity is high, as the high-value areas of producer services agglomeration are generally the high-value agglomeration areas of China’s urban productivity level, while the low-value areas of producer services agglomeration are generally the low-value agglomeration areas of China’s urban productivity level. Furthermore, the spatial econometric model was used to test the effect of producer services agglomeration on urban productivity in China. The results show that producer services agglomeration can effectively improve urban productivity in China, but its impact on the productivity in different cities is quite variable. The producer services specialization agglomeration on urban productivity in eastern China is more obvious, while the positive effect of the diversification agglomeration of producer services on urban productivity is more obvious in the West, the Central and the Northeast, but the promotion of eastern cities is less apparent.
The development of a city is not only a long-term process of material environment construction, but also a long-term process of cultural development and civilization accumulation. The essence of a city is that the city can provide people with a high-quality lifestyle: “valuable, meaningful, tasteful, dignified and dreamy”. When a city’s material civilization is built to a certain extent, the excessive materialization needs cultural harmony to be more perfect. The Capital of Culture in East Asia has rich cultural resources, and also excellent tourist cities. The core task of building the Capital of Culture in East Asia is to protect and utilize cultural resources fully, and promote the regeneration of urban cultural resources and cultural development. This study used research data derived from the relevant statistics officially released by the cities, and mainly using the case study with the Capital of Culture in East Asia in China as the example. Previous studies have shown that the realization of a city’s cultural value is first to promote the regional development of the urban culture, so as to allow the residents to establish “Asian awareness” and “Asian vision”, promote the development of urban culture in life, and increase opportunities for host and guest participation. On this basis, the spatial carrier of urban culture production, trade and consumption is built through the construction of urban culture space and the production of space. Finally, through the implementation of a brand strategy for the Capital of Culture in East Asia, the city’s cultural space, cultural taste and consumption level will be improved, the city brand based on local culture and regional culture will be built, and its competitiveness will be achieved on both regional and global levels.
Improving the management system of state-owned natural resource assets (SONRAs) plays an important role in the institutional reform of ecological civilization in China. It is of great significance for promoting the protection of natural resources and effectively safeguarding the owner’s equity in their SONRAs. Guizhou Province is one of the first ecological civilization pilot sites in China. In this study, we used field investigation methods and the method of historical documents to obtain materials and data about the management of SONRAs in Guizhou Province, and then systematically analyzed the practices in SONRAs management. On this basis, some remaining problems were identified, such as the uncertainty regarding the amount of SONRAs, poorly-defined ownership of property rights and an imperfect revenue system. In response to these problems, countermeasures and suggestions are proposed for the effective maintenance of the owner’s equity in their SONRAs, including establishing an inventory and statistics system to complete the task of comprehensive inventory, establishing an evaluation and accounting system and exploring the path for value realization of ecological products, establishing the principal-agent system and figuring out the asset management listing and agency system, perfecting the income management system to standardize asset income management and improving the asset allocation system to promote the efficiency of resource allocation. The results of this study will provide a reference for strengthening and improving the management of SONRAs in Guizhou Province.
Many stakeholders recognize that the transport sector should be a major focus for reducing the emissions of carbon and air pollutants since it is the third largest sector for energy consumption in China. This study analyzed and projected the energy consumption and emissions of CO2 and conventional air pollutants (CO, NOX, SO2, and PM2.5) from four transport sectors (highway, waterway, railway and aviation) based on the LEAP model, compared the emission reduction potentials of different transport sectors under different scenarios in 2020-2060, and finally explored the co-reduction effect for CO2 and the four pollutants under different control measures. The results showed that the CO2 emissions from the transportation sectors in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region would increase greatly under the baseline scenario. Estimates indicate that the CO2 emissions of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei Province would increase by 263.72%, 225.87% and 405.43% in 2060, respectively. Under the comprehensive policy scenario, the emission reductions would be 88.78%, 76.86% and 83.20% respectively, and the maximum emission reduction rate of pollutants is expected to reach 78.73%-99.34%. The sectors with major reduction potentials for CO2 and conventional pollutants are the aviation and road transport sectors, which contribute 38.19%-99.85% of the total, respectively. The co-reduction achieved by optimizing the energy structure in the road transport and aviation sectors would be the best. The results of this study can provide a basis for the formulation of low-carbon reduction strategies for the transport sectors in the BTH region.
This study systematically sorted out the situation of the water ecological environment in the river basins of the Altay region, and analyzed the main problems that exist concerning water environmental quality, water ecology, water resources, and other aspects. The Altay region has three major river systems: the Irtysh River, the Ulungur River and the rivers of Jimunai County. The water environmental quality of major rivers in the region remained stable, and the total amount of water resources in the Altay region is at the forefront of Xinjiang. However, insufficient ecological flow in the Altay basin, serious water ecological damage and water environmental risks are still prominent. Based on the main problems which were identified and the distribution of the river system, the Altay region would be divided into four areas: the Irtysh River Basin, the Ulungur River Basin, the river basins of Jimunai County, and the desert control unit in the south, and the four areas was divided into eleven water ecological environment control units. In order to provide scientific and technological support for the improvement of the water ecological environmental quality of the river basins in the Altay region, general ideas and countermeasures are put forward for protecting the water ecological environment of the river basin from the three aspects of enhancing water pollution prevention and control, strengthening the protection of water resources, and reinforcing water ecological protection and restoration.
With the rapid development of Quanzhou, the risk of offshore oil spill accidents has increased. Once a spill accident takes place, the spilled oil causes decades or even hundreds of years of continuous pollution to the marine environment. The direct economic loss may be as high as hundreds of millions of yuan, while the natural resources that are almost impossible to fully recover after such pollution may generate inestimable indirect economic losses in the long term. Therefore, predicting the accident probability, analyzing the causes of risk and putting forward suggestions for improvement have important practical guiding significance for reducing the risk and improving the emergency prevention and ability to control offshore oil spill accidents. Based on the statistical data of cargo throughput, the number of ships entering and leaving the port, and maritime pollution accidents in Quanzhou from 2011 to 2020, the frequency of oil spills during the 14th Five-Year Plan could be predicted by using the direct calculation method and fault tree analysis (FAT). The results show that the frequency of operational and average oil spills from ships are once in 4.92 years and once in 2.41 years, respectively, while the frequency of oil spills from storage tanks is once in 7.28 years. The main causes are anthropic factors, which are manifested as irregular operation, misoperation, unfamiliar equipment, disorganization of the emergency response and failure of the emergency facilities. Therefore, the suggestions put forward for reducing accidents in the future include enhancing the inspection of crew member qualifications as well as the offshore supervision of engineering operation vessels and fishing vessels, increasing the proportion of terminal emergency equipment and personnel and participation in emergency actions, clarifying the division of responsibilities between the terminal and cleanup company, and revising the relevant standards for the evaluation of the terminal’s ability to cope with the emergency of offshore oil spill accidents.
As global warming leads to increases in the frequency and intensity of high temperatures, the negative impacts of high temperatures on human society are becoming increasingly severe. In recent years, heat risk has become the focus of many studies. To effectively address high temperature risks, a high temperature risk evaluation index system was constructed based on Chinese meteorological, demographic, and economic data in three dimensions: hazard, exposure, and vulnerability. The results of this study reveal the spatial pattern of high temperature risks, and identify the main factors contributing to these risks through a contribution model. (1) During 1961-2020, the intensity of high temperatures and the number of high temperature days in China showed a fluctuating upward trend, which was most obvious in the southeast and northwest. (2) The clustering characteristics of high-temperature risk distribution in China were clear, and the high-risk areas were mainly distributed in the southeast and northwest. The urban high-temperature risk values were between 0.00 and 0.50, among which Yuxi, Turpan, Hangzhou, Nanchang, and several other cities had greater high temperature risks. (3) The hazard and vulnerability contributions were the largest among high-risk cities and low-risk cities, respectively. Among the hazard-causing cities, Turpan had the largest hazard contribution; while among the exposure-causing cities, Shenzhen had the largest exposure contribution; and among the vulnerability-causing cities, Pingliang had the largest vulnerability contribution. The findings of this study are of great significance by providing information that will enable an effective response to high-temperature risks and that can be used to strengthen regional disaster prevention as well as mitigation and sustainable economic development.
Chengdu has experienced a rapid urbanization in the past two decades, and its land spatial pattern has undergone severe changes. It’s meaningful to investigate the tempo-spatial evolution of land spatial pattern and then contribute to high-quality development in Chengdu. Based on the Landsat-series satellite imagery and land use/cover datasets, this paper investigates Chengdu’s land function change concerning Production, Living and Ecological (PLE) land. The methods of land dynamics degree, landscape pattern index and Pearson correlation were be employed to analyzes the tempo-spatial evolution of landscape pattern in Chengdu, and some suggestions were finally made. We found that there were severe dynamic degree of PLE land in Chengdu and the production and ecological land were decrease obviously before 2015. Contrastingly, the dynamic degree is decrease after 2015, high dynamic degree regions are move to the northeast from 2000-2019. In addition, the change of production land is the main factor affecting the landscape pattern of Chengdu. In general, we put forward the macroscopic strategy and suggestions of “one core, two belts, four regions, and one direction” to support the high-quality development of Chengdu.
Based on target tree management, the effects of different thinning intensities and environmental factors on the natural regeneration of a Pinus massoniana and Quercus variabilis mixed forest were explored in order to provide a theoretical basis for the natural regeneration and sustainable forest management of P. massoniana and Quercus L. mixed forests. Taking the mixed forest after thinning as the research object, three average thinning intensities of WT (7.6%) for weak thinning, LT (15.3%) for light thinning, and MT (24.3%) for moderate thinning were carried out in 5 m×5 m quadrats with 7-10 replicates for each intensity level and 3 replicates for the control. Three years after the thinning, the amount of natural regeneration, growth height, regeneration density, diversity of regenerated tree species and their influencing factors at different thinning intensities were measured and analyzed. The results indicated four main features of the subsequent regeneration. (1) There were 32 species of vascular plants in the 28 quadrats 3 years after thinning, belonging to 22 families and 30 genera, and the dominant species for regeneration were arbor species. The number of regeneration species increased with increasing thinning intensity. (2) As thinning intensity increased, the number of natural regeneration plants between various height classes rose; so, the increased thinning intensity promoted the density of different height classes during regeneration. (3) As thinning intensity increased, so did species abundance S and species evenness. The degree and intrinsic diversity increased, while the Shannon-Weiner and Simpson indices showed no discernible trends. (4) Slope, aspect, and slope position, as well as thinning intensity, all had significant impacts on species richness, species evenness, and regeneration density. MT has the most appropriate promoting effect on natural regeneration and species diversity, so increased thinning intensity can promote natural regeneration and species diversity in the P. massoniana and Q. variabilis mixed forest. In addition, aspect and slope position can increase the species richness S and diversity of natural regeneration, whereas slope has a clear inhibitory effect on the species richness S and diversity during natural regeneration.
