Ecological Approach for the Evaluation of Structure and Sustainability in the Tourism Industry

Rural Tourism Competitiveness and Development Mode, a Case Study from Chinese Township Scale Using Integrated Multi-Source Data

Tourism has been seen and adopted as a vital means for achieving rural economic and social revitalization worldwide without harming sustainable development principles. For China, the evaluation of rural tourism competitiveness at the township level is essential for planning and developing the tourism industry as a basic administration and economic unit, but there is not enough research due to the lack of applicable data and systematic methods. Therefore, this study constructed a town-level rural tourism competitiveness evaluation and development mode classification model based on the modified Michael Porter’s Diamond Model using integrated multi-source data. By taking the 1806 township units in Henan Province, China as examples, we conclude four different modes based on the level of the comprehensive score and industrial internal balance (i.e., balanced development mode with multiple advantages, related and supporting industries driving mode, ecological resource-led mode, and rural landscape experience mode). Policy suggestions for the optimization of the rural tourism industry for Henan are discussed based on the results.

Spatio-temporal Differentiation of Coupling Coordination between Ecological Footprint and Ecosystem Service Functions in the Aksu Region, Xinjiang, China

The ecological footprint and ecosystem service functions in the northwest arid region of China have their unique characteristics and are limited by natural resources. The coordination level between the pressure of human activities on the ecosystem and the ecosystem service capacity can be objectively reflected on by exploring the coupling coordination relationship between these two aspects. This work used the ecological footprint and Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs models to quantitatively analyze the spatial and temporal variations of the ecological footprint and ecosystem service functions in the Aksu region in Xinjiang. A coupling coordination degree model and spatial autocorrelation analysis were used to assess the coupling coordination level and spatial agglomeration characteristics of the regional ecological footprint and ecosystem service functions. The results showed that the ecological footprint of the Aksu region has been high in the northeast and low in the southwest, with noticeable spatial heterogeneity, from 2005 to 2018. Carbon (66.17%) and cropland (26.64%) are the main contributing factors to the regional ecological footprint. The biocapacity is dominated by cropland, built-up land, and forest land. The ecological footprint and biocapacity showed an increasing trend, ranging from an ecological surplus to an ecological deficit, with a continued ecological deficit. The level of ecosystem service functions in the Aksu region was low, with significant spatial variability. The high values were concentrated in the northern part of the region and the Tarim and Hotan River Basins. The coupling coordination level of the ecological footprint and ecosystem service functions in the Aksu area was high in the north and low in the south. The aforementioned coupling coordination level was dominated by the spatial pattern of the ecosystem service functions and had noticeable spatial agglomeration characteristics. The coupling coordination degree of the ecological footprint and water supply function showed an upward trend. By contrast, the coupling coordination degree of the ecological footprint with soil conservation and biodiversity maintenance functions showed a downward trend.