Scenic Byways Network Layout Based On Tourists' Spatial Behavior

Since 2016,the construction of scenic byways has been highly valued by the Ministry of Transport and the National Tourism Administration.It has also explicitly proposed to implement the national tourism scenic byways demonstration project to construct 25 national tourist scenic byways.However,the specific layout of scenic byways remain unclear.Therefore,it is of great significance to explore the layout of scenic byways network.This study selects Zhangjiajie-Jishou-Huaihua as a case study area and builds a network of Zhang-Ji-Huai's tourist travel digital footprint.Based on the theory of social network theory,center-periphery theory,and point-axis gradual diffusion theory,the centrality,network density,center-periphery model and visual evaluation indicators were used to analyze the spatial behavior of tourists and the spatial structure of tourism.These resulted in the formation of scenic Byways Network overall layout plan,which connecting 9 first-level nodes,26 second-level nodes and 16 third-level nodes,connecting 8 central tourist areas,11 sub-center tourist areas and 6 outlying tourist areas through one main scenic byway,five secondary scenic byways and two branch scenic byways.Through the research,the following conclusions have been obtained:(1)The overall density of Zhang-Ji-Huai's regional tourist travel digital footprint network is relatively small,and its spatial behavior shows the characteristics of "partial density and overall looseness".(2)In the area of Zhang-Ji-Huai,tourist attractions are more concentrated in nine scenic spots,including Fenghuang Ancient City,Victory Memorial Hall for the Victory of Anti-Japanese War and so on.(3)Tourism activities are mainly centered around the urban area and its surrounding well-known tourist areas,and tourists use the urban tourist attractions as the hub,transit,or stopover of the tourism itinerary to other tourism resources that are less famous but have high quality and grade.(4)The layout of the scenic road network can be based on the spatial behavior of tourists and the characteristics of the tourism space structure,using the "trunk-subline-branch" scenic road network layered layout model to connect the central tourist area,the sub-center tourist area and the outbound tourist area,connecting primary,secondary and tertiary tourism nodes.