With the development of tourism and information technology, the connotation of tourism landscape is continuously expanding. The “people” in tourist destinations have become tourism landscapes under the gaze of “self” and “others” in the tourism field, achieving a transformation from “physical people” to “landscape people”. Based on the development background of the digital society, this research analyzes the connotation of landscape people based on the gaze theory, constructs a life cycle curve model of the landscaping of people, and discusses its process. The research suggests that: (1) landscape people refer to residents, tourism service personnel, experiential tourists and tourism anchors (bloggers) who are attached to the unique cultural characteristics and symbols of the tourist destination in the tourism scenarios, and can meet the needs of tourist experience and gaze. (2) Landscaping of people is produced by tourism gaze, and with the development of tourist destinations, landscape reconstruction is constantly carried out, showing an “S” type evolutionary path, which is a process from “other construction” to “self-construction”. (3) With the development of the landscaping of people in tourism destinations, the degree of the landscaping of people will ultimately result in three results: positive landscaping, neutral landscaping, and negative landscaping. “Dialogue” is a way of adjusting from negative landscaping to positive landscaping and neutral landscaping. (4) The landscaping of people is the result of the joint action of internal and external factors, driven by multiple stakeholders. The research enriches the theoretical explanation of tourism landscape and tourism gaze, and also provides innovative practical ideas for the sustainable development of tourist destinations in the context of digital society.

The inquiry on the nature of culture and tourism has never been interrupted in the academic communities, but barely from the perspective of extra-disciplinary communication and dialogue. Based on the 4Ss space theory of geography and the 4Ps creativity theory of psychology, the article deconstructs the 8Ps creativity theory into an 8-dimensional intersubjective space, and in this regard integrates a new concept, creativity space, to reinterpret the essence of culture and tourism. It is believed that: (1) creativity space is the space where creativity and space modify and define each other, and jointly form the space of development and evolution; it is the space where creativity is embedded in spatiality and spatiality implies creativity, and the space where subjectivity and objectivity are interacting with each other in a dualistic way and transforming each other into the space of subjectivity or intersubjectivity. (2) Taking creativity space as a prism, problems have been reflected, such as neglecting creativity, insufficient understanding of spatiality, magnified cultural boundaries and narrowed tourism boundaries in the existing knowledge of the nature of culture and tourism. (3) Creativity eliminates the antagonism between tourism and work, pointing to the process of creativity; spatiality gives culture a spatial composition of “4·8” dimensions, pointing to the products and results of creativity; and subject-object interactions and mutual transformations of duality provide the basis for symmetrical analyses of culture and tourism. (4) The essence of culture is spatiality, and the essence of tourism is creativity; the essence of the relationship between culture and tourism is dualistic, and the essence is the formation, development and cyclic evolution of creativity. The concept of creativity space not only provides a self-consistent theoretical explanation for re-understanding the nature of culture and tourism, but also provides new perspectives for their seriousness cognition, disciplinary construction, integration and development, and explanation of working mechanism.

Heritagization is an important cultural process and means of generating, constructing and deconstructing heritage identity. Elucidating its influence mechanismon the heritage identity of residents of different generations is conducive to realize the intergenerational inheritance of cultural heritage. Based on the theory of heritage identity, this paper aims to analyze the influence of heritagization on the heritage identity of residents from different generations in the Hani Terraces heritage site in Yuanyang through field research and qualitative text analysis. The results show that: (1) Heritagization affects residents’ heritage identity of different generations, including value identity, subject identity and space identity. (2) In terms of value identity, heritagization positively affects the identity of aesthetic, scientific and socio-economic values of heritage among different residents, but it has a more significant impact on identity of scientific and socio-economic values of terraces landscape among older generations. (3) In terms of subjective identity, there is no difference in the impact of heritagization on the subjective identity and self-identity of community residents of different generations. (4) In terms of space identity, heritagization significantly enhances the local identity of heritage among different generations of community residents, but has no significant impacts on the national scale identity of the heritage. In view of this, the active cultivation of heritage identity among community residents should not only disseminate the holistic heritage values, but also build an inclusive heritage identity system covering multiple subjects and spatial scales.

Ancient roads are important linear tourist destinations and typical cultural memory space. It is of great significance to clarify the process and internal mechanism of tourists’ cultural memory perception of the ancient road for promoting the deep integration of culture and tourism and revitalizing the ancient road tourism destinations. Based on the theory of cultural memory and from the perspective of tourists, this article explores the dimensions, characteristics, and paths of cultural memory perception in ancient tourist destinations along the Hui-Hang Ancient Road. The study concludes that: (1) the cultural memory perception of Hui-Hang Ancient Road consists of five parts, namely, time dimension, space dimension, cultural dimension, emotional dimension and body dimension, among which the body dimension is a necessary component of memory perception, and the body, emotion and cultural memory are inextricably linked to each other, and there exists a “body and emotion-cultural memory” transformation mechanism. (2) The cultural memory perception of Hui-Hang Ancient Road is characterized by significant spatial and temporal differences, body and emotion interaction, and cultural coupling. (3) The cultural perception path of Hui-Hang Ancient Road includes text system, intention system and ritual system, and the tourists form a multi-dimensional and circular cultural memory perception path under the stimulation of these three types of systems.

“Food” is one of the special types of attraction at tourist destinations and an essential part of tourist reception service. In this study, 169 representative national-level intangible cultural heritage items of food were used as data sources, and geospatial analysis method was applied to analyze their spatial characteristics and influencing factors. The study shows that: (1) the national-level intangible cultural heritage items of food show a spatial pattern of “clustering”, and the spatial pattern was “more in the south and less in the north, more in the east and less in the west”, with a high degree of clustering in Beijing, Sichuan, Shanxi and Zhejiang. (2) There are significant differences in the distribution of national-level intangible cultural heritage items of food. Tea is mainly distributed in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui regions. Wine is mainly distributed in Sichuan-Guizhou region, Beijing-Hebei region and Jiangsu-Zhejiang region. Flour and pasta are clustered in Zhejiang and Guangxi-Guangdong region, and in the belt of Eastern Gansu, Southern Ningxia, Shaanxi and Shanxi, and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. Sichuan-Chongqing-Guizhou region and Eastern Shanxi region are the main distribution areas of sauces and spices. Dishes are mainly distributed in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. Dessert and snacks are concentrated in the Yangtze River Delta, the north of Beijing-Hebei, southwest of Guangdong and other regions. (3) Natural geographical environment factors indirectly affect the formation of national-level intangible cultural heritage items of food by affecting the natural distribution of crops, national intangible cultural heritage inheritors; tourism development and cultural financial support are the main human geographical environment factors affecting the spatial differentiation of national intangible cultural heritage items of food; and historical and cultural factors provide a good cultural ecosystem for the inheritance and agglomeration of intangible cultural heritage. The study contributes theoretically to the protection and inheritance of national-level intangible cultural heritage items of food and the deep integration and development of culture and tourism.

The enhancement of household human capital has driven diversified needs in consumers’ travel experiences. This paper delves into the impact of household human capital on the consumption of intangible cultural heritage tourism and examines the variability of this influence at different stages of family life cycle. The research indicates that: (1) the enhancement of household human capital, encompassing the educational levels, health status, and financial income of family members, has a significant and positive affect on the consumption of intangible cultural heritage tourism. (2) Family life cycle serves as a crucial moderator in how household human capital impacts intangible cultural heritage tourism consumption. Particularly in families at the full nest II stage, the positive influence of household human capital on such tourism consumption is markedly more pronounced compared to families in the nesting and empty nest stages, where the impact is less significant. (3) Preferences for intangible cultural heritage tourism models also differ among members of families in various life cycle stages. For instance, families in the nesting stage show a greater preference for homestay and cultural creative tourism projects, families in the full nest stage lean towards educational tours and cultural creative projects, and families in the empty nest stage have a stronger inclination towards festivals and cultural creative experiences. Accordingly, it is suggested that the promotion and development of intangible cultural heritage tourism should concentrate on families with higher levels of human capital and tailor suitable intangible cultural heritage tourism projects for families in different life cycle stages. This paper not only contributes to the existing body of research on factors influencing family tourism consumption but also offers theoretical foundation and practical direction for the establishment of market strategies and innovation in intangible cultural heritage tourism products.

Capability deprivation is one of the fundamental reasons for poverty relapse among residents who have previously escaped from poverty. Based on Amartya Sen’s capability deprivation theory, this study constructs an index system of risk factors for poverty relapse by capability deprivation. Utilizing survey data on the perceived risk of poverty relapse among residents in rural tourism areas of Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province, binary logistic regression and variance analysis methods are employed to explore the risk factors of capability deprivation for poverty relapse and the impact of residents’ characteristics on their perceived risk of poverty relapse. The findings indicate that: (1) Seven factors, including the residents’ ability to obtain assistance, to invest in tourism development, to learn autonomously, to participate and accept tourism skills training, to promote tourism to external communities, and to save family property, are the main perceived risk factors for poverty relapse among residents. (2) Personal and family characteristics, such as occupation, education level, physical health, and tourism participation methods, significantly affect residents’ perceived risk of poverty relapse. (3) Residents who are frontline service workers in tourism and those who participate in tourism through individual or family self-employment have a stronger perception of poverty relapse risk. Residents with higher education levels correlate with stronger perceptions of poverty relapse risk. Compared to residents with no sick family members or multiple sick family members, those with only one sick family member are more sensitive to the risk of poverty relapse. The study suggests that, while maintaining the current assistance policies, it is crucial to uphold the primary role of ethnic rural tourism residents, cultivate their sustainable poverty alleviation capabilities, and conduct targeted monitoring and interventions for different resident characteristics, so as to help the local anti-poverty relapse work to be conducted effectively.

Community elites play crucial roles in the development of rural tourism. This paper takes four villages in Huangpi District of Wuhan City as case studies and using text data collected through sampling, in-depth interviews and online recordings to analyze the roles of community elites and their influencing factors through grounded theory. The results show that: (1) according to the criteria of "achieving success through tourism participation, making contributions to the community development, having impacts on community decision-making and receiving recognition by most villagers”, five community elites were identified in the case area and they are in four categories, i.e. social, economic, cultural and political elites. (2) Community elites have not only promoted the transformation of villagers’ livelihoods and attracted the migrant workers coming back, but also revitalized the idle rural assets and promoted industrial restructuring; moreover, they have inherited outstanding traditional culture and established civilized rural customs; they have improved the human habitat environment; at the same time, they have also brought negative impacts, such as uneven distribution of benefits, land requisition conflicts, and increased living cost for the residents. Different types of community elites have played some common roles but have differences. For example, the economic elites have played a relatively weak role in cultural inheritance while the cultural and social elites contribute to economic development indirectly, and only the political elites have a balanced role. (3) At the early stage of participating in tourism, the role of community elites is influenced by both inside and outside factors such as entrepreneurial motivation and government support; while at the middle and late stages of participating in tourism, it was affected by their personal characteristics and social capital.

Development entities play a significant role in rural tourism, but the divergent interests among stakeholders can lead to different decisions and behaviors, potentially challenging the sustainable development of rural tourism. This study constructs an evolutionary game model to simulate and analyze the tripartite game process among grassroots governments, rural elites, and community residents. The findings reveal that: (1) in the decision-making process of rural tourism development, all three parties demonstrate an intention of maximizing benefits while reducing their own cost inputs, which may result in strategic discrepancies. (2) During rural tourism development, grassroots governments decisions are primarily influenced by reward cost, governance benefit, and reputation loss. Rural elites’ decisions are mainly affected by additional project cost, return from rural tourism projects, and benefit or loss from speculative behavior. Community residents’ participation decisions primarily depend on participation cost. High input cost coupled with low return are identified as core factors diminishing the enthusiasm of all parties for rural tourism development. (3) In the initial stages of development, various preliminary investments increase fiscal burdens, reducing grassroots governments’ willingness to actively support rural tourism and leading to speculative behavior of rural elites. In the middle and late stages of development, as policy reward thresholds increase, projects become homogenized, and income decreases, community residents’ willingness to participate is limited. Consequently, rural elites may give up the strategy of developing rural tourism projects in favor of speculative benefits. By analyzing the influencing factors of each party’s behavior, this study proposes strategic adjustment recommendations for different stages of rural tourism, aiming to optimize rural tourism project development and management, and promote sustainable development.

The complexity of urban functions and structure brings new challenges to the spatial layout of tourism industry factors. This study focuses on the main urban area of Fuzhou City and examines the spatial distribution of the six factors of the tourism industry: catering, accommodation, transportation, sightseeing, shopping, and entertainment. Bivariate Ripley’s K function is introduced to reveal the “distance-agglomeration” correlation pattern among these factors. The results show that: (1) the spatial distribution density of the six factors of the tourism industry has a strong correlation with the urban functional zoning, and the pattern of the six factors shows the distribution characteristics of “along the river, large agglomeration and small dispersion”, and forms multiple spatial clusters. (2) The agglomeration hotspots distribution of the six factors of tourism industry has spatial commonality and heterogeneity. The hotspots of catering, shopping, and entertainment factors demonstrate strong spatial correlations, while sightseeing hotspots tend to have a mono-core distribution. Transportation hotspots have a broader distribution range, and accommodation hotspots have a strong tourist flow and transportation orientation. (3) The study identifies four types of “distance-agglomeration” spatial correlation patterns among the six factors of the tourism industry. The patterns include “close distance-strong agglomeration” and “close distance-weak agglomeration”, with the shopping factors at the center. The “long distance-weak agglomeration” pattern is associated with transportation and sightseeing factors, while the “long distance-strong agglomeration” model is centered on entertainment factors. This analysis offers a deepen spatial understanding of the relationships between different factors of the tourism industry.

Waterfront space is an important place that reflects the quality of urban space and carries the function of urban recreation. Promoting the production of waterfront recreation space is an important issue in urban regeneration. The paper introduces the affordance theory and uses grounded theory to analyze the human-environment interaction mechanism in the production of urban waterfront recreation space. The results show that: (1) the human-environment interaction elements of urban waterfront recreation space include basic conditions, infrastructure, recreation environment, landscape quality, recreation facilities, and recreation services. (2) There are three stages of human-environment interaction. In the image recognition stage, basic conditions and infrastructure elements stimulate potential recreation subjects to form spatial cognition; in the on-site experience stage, recreation environment and landscape quality elements trigger recreation subjects to form place perception, and recreation facilities and recreation service elements support recreation subjects to form usage experience during activities; in the recollection and feedback stage, recreation subjects integrate their perceived interaction elements to form recreation feedback, which in turn affects the spatial cognition and spatial practice of other subjects. (3) Progressive and staged human-environment interaction achieves cognitive affordability, place affordability, functional affordability, and interactive affordability, which in turn promotes the circular reproduction of the meaning and function of urban waterfront recreation space. The study provides a new case for research related to spatial production and can be used as a reference for decision-making on the regeneration of urban waterfront recreation space and the improvement of spatial experience quality.

It is of great significance to analyze the spatio-temporal behavior characteristics of tourists for the planning and management of tourism in national parks. In this study, the spatio-temporal behavior characteristics of tourists with different travel modes were analyzed by using tourists’ GPS trajectories and marking points data, Open Street Map (OSM) road network and Point of Interest (POI) data of scenic spots in Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park, combined with the seasonal intensity index and relevant GIS spatial analysis. The results indicate that: (1) there are distinct seasonal characteristics in the travel time of tourists on foot, by bicycle, and by car. Tourists on foot and by bicycle mostly travel in winter, while tourists by car mainly travel in summer. Moreover, there are differences in the total mileage, total time, number of marking points, and average speed of tourists with different travel modes across different seasons. (2) Influenced by road traffic and scenic spots, the tourist marking points are unevenly distributed in space, and the marking points of tourists on foot are scattered as a whole and gathered locally, while the marking points of tourists by bicycle and car are more concentrated. (3) The trajectories of tourists on foot are the most widely and densely distributed in the national park, while the trajectories of tourists by bicycle and car are mainly distributed in Wuzhishan area with good road construction. Based on the research results, relevant suggestions are put forward for optimization of the pattern and sustainable development of tourism in Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park.

The identification of desert tourism suitable area (DTSA) is the primary condition and basis for site selection to promote the development of desert tourism. The study established a DTSA evaluation index system by comprehensively integrating regional tourism development support conditions, ecological constraints, and the maximum marginal benefits of economic and social development. Taking Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (Xinjiang) as a case study, the paper carries out the grading optimization of evaluation factors based on the regional conditions, thus realizing the construction of the DTSA model and conducting the spatial identification and empirical test. The results show that: natural factors, transportation accessibility, elemental support and industrial promotion are the four dimensions constituting the DTSA; among which natural factors and transportation accessibility have greater influence weights. The periphery of low altitude and low slope desert, along with the sufficient water sources, developed transportation road network and rich source markets are the distribution areas with high suitability for desert tourism in Xinjiang, and the identification results coincide with the selection of sites for 77.78% of the established national desert parks in Xinjiang. The DTSA evaluation system and identification method proposed in the study can provide some reference for desert tourism resource development.

Government websites are an important channel connecting the government and the public and a core tool for digital government construction. The sustainable development of its service ecosystem is a guarantee for breaking through the information barriers and enhancing the public users’ willingness to use. Based on the information ecosystem theory, this paper tries to construct a service ecosystem evaluation framework for government websites based on DEWEM and UTAUT models from the perspectives of websites and users, and uses the system dynamics approach to empirically test the website of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The paper concludes that: (1) In the government website service ecosystem evaluation framework constructed according to the information ecosystem theory, public users’ perception and expectation of use jointly contribute to the satisfaction of use, which in turn affects the users’ willingness to continue to use and ultimately determines the sustainable development of the government website service ecosystem; (2) The government website service ecosystem evaluation index system includes two parts: website usage perception and user expectation, of which, website usage perception includes 5 evaluation dimensions of transparency, appropriateness of information, convenience of service, security and public participation, and 12 representative indicators; and user expectation includes 2 evaluation dimensions, namely user demand and social impact, and 8 representative indicators; (3) The validity test of the government website service ecosystem evaluation index system finds that the two single indicators, namely, the number of natural person cases and the number of legal person cases, have the greatest impact on the sustainable development of the service ecosystem of tourism government websites; and the combination of the indicators such as the number of public disclosures in accordance with the application, the number of website security tests and evaluations, and the number of periods for soliciting surveys has a significant impact. It is recommended that tourism government websites follow the idea of synergistic development in the future, and pay more attention to the construction and development of online business processing functions, so as to ensure the sustainable development of the website service ecosystem.