Achieving common prosperity is the essential requirement of Chinese modernization, and the integration of culture and tourism is of great significance as an important path to narrow the regional gap, and effectively “improve quality” and “increase income”. This study used the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2010 to 2019, and conducted empirical tests by using the panel fixed effects model and the mediation effects model. The results indicated that the integration of culture and tourism can significantly promote the realization of common prosperity. This integration can promote common prosperity by increasing the income and consumption level of urban and rural residents, the degree of equalization of basic public services and the capacity for sustainable development. Spatial analysis shows that there are regional differences in the promotion of common prosperity by cultural and tourism integration, which is particularly obvious in ethnic and non-ethnic areas. Finally, in response to the existing problems identified in the above analyses, countermeasure recommendations that align with the actual development are put forward.

The temporal-spatial pattern of linear cultural heritage in the context of the tourism industry is closely linked to heritage management. Using the 1800 km long Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal as an example, this study compared the dynamic evolution of tourism businesses in Beijing, Liaocheng, and Yangzhou at three time points (2010, 2015, and 2019) via nearest neighbor analysis, kernel density estimation, and the standard deviational ellipse. Next, a Geo-detector was used to examine the influencing factors. The results reveal significant growth regardless of the quantity or agglomeration degree from 2010 to 2019, and the direction of industrial expansion is consistent with the flow direction of the canal. Moreover, the explanatory powers of factors related to socioeconomic development and canal resources are obviously stronger than those of the natural environment. The findings of this study offer theoretical constructs and policy recommendations for the sustainable development of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and other linear cultural heritage sites.

The exploration of ecological safety in tourism sites can provide a concrete path for sustainable tourism development in a region. Based on the “Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response” (DPSIR) model, we constructed an index system for the evaluation of tourism ecological security (TES) in the Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) from 2005 to 2020. This index system was used to explore the characteristics of spatial and temporal dynamic evolution with the help of entropy weight TOPSIS method, dynamic index of TES and Markov probability transfer matrix, and a standard deviational ellipse (SDE) model and GM(1,1) model were constructed for spatial pattern analysis and prediction. The results indicate four key aspects of this system. (1) In terms of spatiotemporal evolution, the tourism ecological safety index (TESI) of the SREB increased, the TES levels of the northwestern and southwestern provinces and cities differed significantly, and the quality conditions of TES in the southwestern provinces and cities were better than in the northwest. (2) In terms of dynamic evolutionary characteristics, the speed of change at each level of the SREB was slow, but the level of TES has improved. The TES level has not shifted by leaps and bounds, and the shifts in the level type show “path dependence” and “self-locking” effects. (3) In terms of spatial and temporal distribution patterns, the spatial pattern of TES in the SREB is a “northwest-southeast” movement trend, and the spatial distribution appeared as “aggregation” from 2005 to 2020. The prediction results show that the center of gravity of TES in the SREB will shift to the southeast from 2025 to 2035, and the spatial spillover effect will be reduced. (4) In terms of driving factors, the number of star-rated hotels, and the amounts of industrial wastewater emissions, tourism foreign exchange earnings, forest coverage, and other parameters are the key factors affecting TES, and the booming tourism industry requires the interconnection and interpenetration of various factors. The results of this study can provide a reference for tourism development and ecological environmental protection in the Silk Road Economic Belt.

The analysis of the spatial distribution of tourism resources and the identification of its influencing factors are crucial for supporting the sustainable development of regional tourism. This study established a comprehensive database of tourism resources in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (Ningxia) through a combination of literature review and field research. It examined the quantitative, qualitative, and categorical characteristics of tourism resources in Ningxia, and determined the spatial patterns based on kernel density and spatial association analysis. This study also comprehensively evaluated the societal, economic, and environmental factors influencing the spatial distribution of tourism resources in the entire region by employing the geographical detector model to quantify the influence of each factor. The following results were obtained. (1) There were 29218 individual tourism resources in Ningxia, comprising eight main types, 23 subtypes, and 105 fundamental types, and they exhibit a hierarchical pyramidal structure. (2) The tourism resources in Ningxia displayed characteristics of “widespread regional dispersion and limited regional agglomeration”. The spatial distribution of tourism resources was highly imbalanced, and most types of tourism resources exhibit strong positive spatial correlation. (3) The altitude, annual precipitation, population density, distance from urban centers, urbanization rate, and per capita GDP were identified as significant factors influencing the spatial distribution of tourism resources in Ningxia. Based on the results, we recommend that the government should formulate tourism development policies in Ningxia based on local conditions to effectively address the spatial imbalances, enhance the sustainability of tourism development, and continue to promote high-quality tourism development in Ningxia.

The cognition of low-carbon tourism among tourists is closely related to education level. In this study, the degree of coordination of low-carbon cognition with different educational levels is assessed by the coupling model in Wutai Mountain, and the effect of each factor on low-carbon cognition is analyzed by the geographical detector. The results show that: (1) The six cognition aspects of low-carbon tourism gradually transition from the level of intermediate coordination to good coordination with the advancement of the education level. Both the low-level and lower-level tourists belong to the lag type of low-carbon visiting cognition, and the higher-level tourists belong to the lag type of low-carbon shopping cognition, while the high-level tourists show the lag type of low-carbon food cognition. (2) According to the individual factors and interactive effects in the geographical detector, each impacting factor has a decisive effect on tourists’ cognition of low-carbon tourism, and the effect of any two factors after interaction shows either a double-factor or nonlinear enhancement. The findings of this study provide valuable practical implications for helping tourism destinations to educate tourists and improve their low-carbon tourism options. At the same time, this study will provide theoretical standards for measuring tourists’ cognition of low-carbon tourism, so as to enrich and improve the theoretical research related to low-carbon tourism.

As a pivotal element within the modern service industry, tourism possesses the capacity to reconfigure regional economic dynamics, alter resource flow patterns, and notably influence urban green development. By establishing an evaluation index system for urban green development across 60 prefecture-level cities within the Yellow River Basin from 2006 to 2021, this study employs the spatial Durbin model to delve into the nonlinear relationship between the tourism economy and urban green development. Furthermore, it investigates the heterogeneous impact of the tourism economy on green development across varying levels of urbanization. This study reveals several key findings: (1) Both tourism economy and urban green development exhibit significant spatial clustering, with tourism economy showing “midstream>downstream>upstream” and urban green development showing “downstream>midstream>upstream”. (2) The tourism economy exerts a non-linear positive influence on the green development of cities, characterized by a non-linear inverted “S” shape in its direct impact and a nonlinear “S” shape in its indirect impact. (3) As urbanization rate level escalate, the positive influence of the tourism economy on urban green development follows a non-linear trajectory, initially declining before ascending. Specifically, when the urbanization rate level is below the first threshold value, the tourism economy notably promotes urban green development. However, between the first and second threshold values, this positive impact diminishes, only to rebound beyond the second threshold value.

With the promotion of the rural revitalization strategy, cultural and creative industries of tourism have gradually become an important driving force for rural revitalization. Since the economic level of minority areas is low and the concept of industrial development lags behind, developing the cultural and creative industries of tourism has a positive role in cultural revitalization and economic structure transformation. In recent years, Ebian Yi Autonomous County (Ebian County) has relied on rich intangible cultural heritage resources and achieved fruitful results in the development of cultural and creative products of rural tourism, adding vitality to its rural tourism and rural revitalization. Starting from the economy and the development of cultural and creative industries empowered by intangible cultural heritage (ICH), this study analyzed the impact of related cultural and creative products of Ebian County on its economic development in the five-year period from 2018 to 2022 by means of qualitative and quantitative research methods. Three main conclusions could be drawn. (1) The impact of intangible cultural heritage cultural and creative industries of Ebian County on the economy has been positive and expanding gradually with time. (2) The number of inheritors and workshops, and the business income of workshops are the three major factors affecting the development of cultural and creative industries. (3) Ebian already has a good foundation of cultural and creative industries of intangible cultural heritage, so the investment of funds and training of talents have played a major role in promoting the development of cultural and creative industries of intangible cultural heritage.