| The national strategy for ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin presents an opportunity for the high-quality development of tourism.The proposed national park,as the main component of the nature reserve system and a major task in the construction of ecological civilization in the new era,sets forth the requirements of the times for ecological protection and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin.Tourism destinations serve as carriers for tourism activities,the main locations for tourism activities,and the core competitiveness of tourism development.The number,spatial distribution,association mechanism,and level of development of tourism destinations,represented by high-level tourist attractions(3A and above)and nature reserve systems(national parks,national nature reserves,and national nature parks),particularly national parks,have a significant impact on the spatial layout and high-quality development of regional tourism.The Qinghai-Gansu-Ningxia Region,which is an autonomous region,is situated at the intersection of the Upper Yellow River Economic Belt and the Silk Road Economic Belt.It shares a close relationship in terms of geography and culture,and is an important ecological barrier and a typical area for high-quality development in the upper reaches of the Yellow River.However,the ecological environment of the region is fragile,and the development of tourism destinations lags behind compared to other regions.Additionally,the depth and breadth of interregional cooperation links are weak.In recent years,the growth of high-level tourist attractions and nature reserves has led to problems such as uneven development and significant spatial differences.Therefore,it is of practical significance to carry out this study for the rational layout of tourism in the Qinghai-Gansu-Ningxia region,the construction of the Yellow River ecotourism belt,and ecological protection and high-quality development.Furthermore,the spatial pattern of tourism destinations needs to be re-examined from the perspective of whole-area tourism and mass tourism.This study is based on the Social Science Planning Project of Qinghai Province(No.22ZCY033)and the Project of the Science and Technology Department of Qinghai Province(No.2018-ZJ-789).It employs the basic theories of geography,tourism,resource and environmental economics,and regional economics.The study utilizes the Arc GIS 10.8 spatial analysis tool and employs methods such as kernel density analysis,nearest neighbor index,and standard deviation ellipse.The spatial distribution pattern of tourism destinations is analyzed from multiple perspectives,including type,equilibrium,and spatial linkage.The influencing factors are studied using spatial analysis,mathematical analysis,and geographic probes.The study results are as follows:(1)The spatial distribution of tourist destinations in the Qinghai-Gansu-Ningxia region from 2009 to 2021 exhibited a high degree of cohesion,indicating spatial agglomeration.The cohesion degree of high-level tourist attractions was higher than that of nature reserves.In terms of spatial distribution balance,the imbalance index S of high-level tourist attractions ranged from 0.24 to 0.3,which was higher than that of nature reserves.Therefore,the spatial distribution of nature reserves was more balanced.(2)The spatial distribution of tourist attractions exhibits varying levels of concentration.The density of high-level tourist attractions is between 27 and 74 per10,000 km~2,while that of nature reserves is between 1.61 and 3.22 per 10,000 km~2.Notably,the density of high-level tourist attractions is significantly higher than that of nature reserves.The distribution of tourism destinations follows a clear hierarchy,characterized by a"point-like agglomeration and linear expansion"pattern that centers around provincial capitals and key cities,with the Yellow River serving as the axis.This pattern reflects both spatial and temporal evolution.(3)The spatial distribution of tourist attractions can be analyzed based on their center of gravity and direction.The movement of the center of mass of high-level tourist attractions and nature reserves exhibits distinct tendencies.The distribution direction is mainly northeast?southwest,which aligns with the flow direction of the Yellow River in the region.High-level tourist attractions tend to be oriented east?west,while nature reserves tend to be oriented north?south.(4)Regarding the spatial relevance of tourist attractions,high-level tourist attractions exhibit spatial autocorrelation within county units,while high-level tourist attractions and nature reserves at the municipal scale do not exhibit spatial autocorrelation.The positively correlated H-H and L-L areas exhibit clustering and are widely distributed,whereas the negatively correlated L-H and H-L areas exhibit a point-like,scattered,and limited scope distribution.The pattern of the distribution of cold and hotspots differs somewhat from the clustering of the LISA distribution,but there are also certain similarities.(5)The factors that affect the spatial distribution of high-level tourist attractions in the Qinghai-Gansu-Ningxia region are,in order,economic factors(0.5257)>social factors(0.5235)>natural factors(0.491).The explanatory power of nature reserve factors is in the order of social factors(0.562)>natural factors(0.51)>economic factors(0.451).The primary factor that influences the spatial distribution of high-level tourist attractions is the economic factor,while the social factor is the primary factor that influences the distribution of nature reserves.Interaction detection indicates that there is nonlinear enhancement and two-factor enhancement among the influencing factors,and the explanatory power of the two-factor after interaction is significantly stronger than that of the single factor.Under the influence of interaction,each factor exhibits a synergistic effect,and the spatial distribution pattern of tourist attractions is ultimately formed. |
