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.

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.

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.

With the increasing emphasis on ecological environmental protection and sustainable development objectives in the world, the advancement of green tourism not only facilitates the green transformation of the tourism sector but also holds significant implications for fostering harmonious coexistence between human and nature within specific regions. This study undertakes a comprehensive analysis of pertinent research literature on green tourism both domestically and internationally, articulating a definition and elucidating the connotations of green tourism. It synthesizes research themes from various perspectives, including green tourism products, supply chains, industries, destinations, tourist behaviors, as well as certification and policy frameworks related to green tourism. Furthermore, it sorts out the fundamental theories and applied technical methods for green tourism research. The study argues that current research in green tourism exhibits characteristics indicative of interdisciplinary integration; thus necessitating an enhancement in systematic content alongside diversified theoretical approaches in future research. Accordingly, the article puts forward seven research prospects: innovating the theoretical framework for green tourism system, constructing and assessing a green tourism product system, revealing the structure and operational mechanism of the green tourism supply chain along with its evolutionary patterns, exploring the development strategies and paths of the green tourism industry, optimizing the development model of green tourism destinations, clarifying behavioral patterns among eco-conscious tourists alongside strategies for their guidance, and enhancing the green tourism evaluation standards and certification system. This study offers scientific guidance and practical references for fostering both ecological transition within the tourism sector and its high-quality development.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Toponymy is an important cultural tourism resource, not only as spatial symbols but also as cultural symbols, carrying collective memory and local identity. In the context of the deep integration of culture and tourism, the construction, dissemination and experience of toponymic symbols are crucial to the full use of toponymic cultural tourism resources. The paper systematically reviews the relevant results of domestic and foreign research on tourism symbols and toponymic tourism, based on the semiotic perspective, takes the semiotic ternary framework of “representamen-object-interpretant” proposed by Peirce as the theoretical basis and combines it with the characteristics of symbols to explore the relationship among the meaning of toponymic, destinations, and toponymic symbols, and construct the toponymic cultural tourism research framework. Through symbolic derivation, the openness, dynamism and diversity of toponymic meanings in tourism activities are further ensured, and the symbolic meanings of toponyms are continuously enriched. The paper summarizes the main research contents of tourism symbols of toponymic culture from the three dimensions of “representamen”, “object” and “interpretant”: construction of toponymic symbols, dissemination of toponymic symbols, and experience of toponymic symbols. Combined with the closed-loop logic of constructing, disseminating, experiencing and reconstructing toponymic symbols, the future research direction and research significance from the level of tourism destination, tourism media and tourists are elaborated, so as to push forward the practice of tourism symbolization of toponymy, and provide a comprehensive theoretical cognitive framework and analytical system for the future research.

“Special Forces-style Tourism”, as an emerging form of tourism, is favored by specific groups for its extreme challenges, high-intensity experiences, and ultimate tests of physical and mental abilities. Based on embodied cognition theory, the study conducts a grounded theory analysis by collecting online textual data to explore the mental dilemmas and the formation pathways of escape compensation behaviors in “Special Forces-style Tourism”. The results show that: (1) the formation of tourist “Special Forces-style Tourism” behavior is spatially manifested as a process from living space to tourism space to emotional space, in which tourists develop a sense of disequilibrium from their living space, which then trigger their embodied experiential behavior in the tourism space, and ultimately fulfill their emotional needs; (2) The source market group tends to choose “Special Forces-style Tourism” mostly due to the disturbances of mental dilemmas in real life, with the roots of these mental dilemmas being an imbalanced perception jointly caused by regret compensation, approval seeking, relationship deepening, and the feeling between emptiness and fulfillment; (3) In the tourism space, tourists cope with the imbalanced perception in their living space through escape compensation behaviors such as self-exploration, physical embedding, and benign self-mutilation; (4) The perception of pain makes a positive contribution to the “Special Forces-style Tourism” experience, where tourists can obtain pleasure, a sense of achievement, and a sense of fulfillment by safely trying stimulating physical pain, and the essence of this choice tendency is benign self-mutilation. The exploration of the behavioral pathway of “Special Forces-style Tourism” not only enriches the applicability of embodied cognition theory in different tourism situations but also provides customized services and experience design ideas for the tourism industry.

Historical districts are important spaces for urban memory, culture, and consumption. Enhancing tourists’scene perception is a crucial issue for the deep integration of cultural and tourism development in historical districts. This study is based on the scene theory and uses three historical districts in Macau, China, as examples. We utilize online review text data and Points of Interest (POI) data from Baidu Maps. Through word frequency analysis, semantic network analysis, axial coding, kernel density estimation, amenity scoring, and scene measurement calculations, we explore the impact of cultural scene amenities on tourist perception. The study finds that: (1) tourists’scene perception in historic districts mainly includes eight elements, including historical sites, architectural style, local characteristics, art exhibitions, activities, spatial atmosphere, leisure consumption, and culinary experiences. These elements can be categorized into three main types of cultural scene amenities: heritage buildings, cultural displays, and consumption experiences. (2) Heritage buildings form the foundation of tourists’scene perception, while consumption experiences and cultural displays have a more significant impact on tourists’perception. (3) Tourists’subjective perception is positively influenced by the density of amenities in the objective scene, but it is also affected by the complex relationship between amenity types and spatial distribution. While high-density amenities typically enhance perception, low-density distribution does not necessarily lead to reduced attention. (4) The three types of amenities are closely related to the dimensions of “authenticity” “theatricality” and “legitimacy” with a one-to-one manner. Deficiencies in the expression of the dimensions can diminish the subjective perception of tourists and the overall appeal of the cultural scene. The study enriches the application of the scene theory with case examples and provides valuable insights for the sustainable protection and development of historical districts.

“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.

Since the 20th century, art-based construction has become one of the important means of global rural development. The article, based on the BERTopic algorithm and literature analysis, deeply excavates the evolution of Chinese and English research themes on art-based rural construction and looks forward to future research trends. The results show that: (1) both Chinese and English research themes revolve around creativity and tourism based on rural culture and art as a means, with Chinese research mainly focusing on themes such as creative tourism, public art, traditional culture, locality, and subjectivity, while English research mainly focuses on themes such as creative industries, rural commodification, social participation, tourism communities, and sustainability. (2) In recent years, both Chinese and English research have emphasized issues such as the construction of subjectivity in art-based rural construction, exploration of paths and models, evaluation of benefits and impacts, analysis of cultural production mechanisms, and maintenance of cultural sustainability, but English research places more emphasis on empirical research and critical thinking. (3) From the research trend, the mechanism of collaborative participation of multiple stakeholders in art-based rural construction and the transformation of endogenous-driven sustainable development paradigms will be future focuses. Future research on art-based rural construction in China needs to aim at telling good stories of Chinese rural culture, using a research paradigm that combines general narratives with micro-case studies to reveal the dynamic process and mechanism of multi-stakeholder positive interaction, and apply multidisciplinary methods to optimize the assessment system, thereby improving the localization of art-based rural construction research system and providing scientific references for the implementation of the rural revitalization strategy.

Family tourism can enhance individual well-being and family cohesion; however, the mechanisms by which intergenerational family interactions contribute to the subjective well-being of participants during travel have not been extensively explored. Drawing on family systems theory, conservation of resources theory, and cultural adaptation theory, this paper introduces family functioning as a mediating variable and cultural intelligence as a moderating variable. It constructs a correlational test model to examine the formation of subjective well-being through intergenerational interactions during family tourism. The results show that: (1) intergenerational interactions are closely linked to the subjective well-being of tourists and positively promote the subjective well-being of tourists. (2) Communication and interaction among family members is a key factor in the health of family functioning, and family functioning plays a key mediating role in intergenerational interaction and tourists' subjective well-being. (3) The cultural intelligence level of travelers can effectively enhance the positive associations of intergenerational interactions on subjective well-being. These findings provide new perspectives on the willingness and motivation of Chinese-style families to travel, expand the application of cultural intelligence in the field of tourism from the level of cultural adaptation, and provide new ideas for the high-quality development of the intergenerational tourism market.

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.

Strengthening tourists’ cultural perception is an important way to strengthen their cultural identity in the process of tourism practice. Based on the perspective of cultural IP decoding, using text mining and grounded theory, the paper identified the multiple dimensions of cultural perception of tourists in the Yangtze River National Cultural Park, constructed a theoretical model of cultural perception affecting cultural identity, and explored the mechanism of cultural perception affecting cultural identity. The results show that: (1) tourists’ cultural perception has multiple representations such as cultural symbol perception, cultural scenes perception, historical relics perception, and service facility perception, which are logically corresponding to the decoding of cultural connotations, cultural values, cultural spirits, and cultural spaces in the process of cultural IP decoding hierarchy, respectively. (2) Tourists’ cultural perception and cultural identity are highly correlated. The explanatory variables for tourist cultural perception can be subdivided into six dimensions: ethnic and folk culture, landscape architecture, cultural atmosphere, scene interaction, historical events, and historical ruins, and the indicators of each dimension have a significant impact on tourist cultural identity. (3) Tourists’ cultural perception is generated through four procedural stages: motivation index, sensory experience, situational integration, and perceptual sublimation. Cultural identity is specifically manifested as value recognition and identity recognition, which is the result of interaction between tourists and culture. The research has supplemented the analytical perspective of cultural perception, deepened the theoretical understanding of the cultural perception identity mechanism, and provided reference for promoting the deep integration of culture and tourism development and strengthening the sense of community of the Chinese nation.

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.

In recent years, with the help of short video platforms and social media, internet celebrity places have become a media landscape and triggered popularity, and how to promote the sustainable development of those places has become a hot topic of concern. Based on the theory of tourism motivation, this paper constructs a moderated dual-mediation model to explore the intrinsic mechanism and boundary conditions of the influence of the type of internet celebrity places on consumers’ willingness to continue checking in by conducting a moderated two-media model, and empirical tests through a second-hand data experiment and two behavioral experiments using college students. The results show that: (1) from the perspective of meaning analysis, the internet celebrity places can be divided into practical internet celebrity places and hedonic internet celebrity places, both of which will have an impact on consumers’ willingness to continue checking in, and the continuous check-in willingness brought by practical internet celebrity places is higher than that of hedonic internet celebrity places. (2) The internet celebrity places will affect the perceived authenticity and self-promotion of consumers, and the practical internet celebrity places is more likely to cause consumers’ perceived authenticity, and the hedonic internet celebrity places is more likely to cause consumers’ self-promotion, so as to construct a dual mediating influence path of perceived authenticity and self-promotion. (3) Promotional regulatory plays a moderating role in this influence pathway. Through the research of this paper, the research on destination tourism and internet celebrity economy is further enriched, and it also has a reference for the development decisions of internet celebrity places.

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.

Enhancing the safety of cruise tourism is crucial for preserving the reputation of cruise ships, safeguarding the healthy development of the industry, preventing accidents, and enhancing public confidence. Based on data from 3 376 global cruise accidents from 2000 to 2024, this paper employs chi-square tests and categorical regression methods to statistically analyze the types and consequences of worldwide cruise tourism accidents. It further examines the correlation among catastrophic accidents, social security incidents, public health emergencies, natural disasters and other contributing factors. The findings indicate that: (1) the number of cruise accidents aligns closely with the growth trajectory of the cruise industry; accident probabilities are elevated in busy maritime areas and ports; catastrophic incidents represent the most prevalent category of cruise-related mishaps with a wide array of subclasses exhibiting their complexity and diversity. (2) There exist variations in both nature and severity regarding accident outcomes across different incident types; public health emergencies and natural disasters tend to cause higher casualty rates. (3) Significant disparities are observed in the causative factors behind cruise tourism accidents. Personnel factors are closely related to the occurrence of catastrophic accidents, public health accidents and social security accidents; equipment factors are also important triggers of catastrophic accidents; environmental elements predominantly drive natural disasters as well as numerous catastrophic events; management factors have a great impact on the development of public health accidents. Accordingly, this paper proposes several suggestions on risk control measures for cruise tourism to serve as guidance for effective safety management and sustainable development of cruise tourism.

Improving the level of digital infrastructure construction is an important measure to strengthen the resilience of the tourism economy, release the multiplier effect of the tourism industry chain, and enhance the high-quality development of the cultural and tourism industry. Based on the panel data of 31 provincial-level regions in China from 2011 to 2022, this paper uses the entropy method to measure the resilience of tourism economy and the level of digital infrastructure construction. The benchmark regression model, threshold model and spatial Durbin model are used to reveal the direct, non-linear and spatial spillover effects of digital infrastructure construction on the resilience of tourism economy. The results show that: (1) the construction of digitial infrastructure has effectively enhanced the resilience of the tourism economy and passed a series of robustness and endogeneity tests. (2) There is a non-linear increasing effect based on the intensity of financial supervison regarding the impact of the construction of digital infrastructure on the resilience of the tourism economy. (3) The construction of digital infrastructure has a positive spatial spillover effect on the resilience of the tourism economy. In view of this, the paper puts forward policy suggestions to further enhance the role of digital infrastructure construction in promoting the resilience of tourism economy from three aspects: formulating differentiated development strategies, giving a full play to financial regulation and improving the level of cross-provincial cooperation.

High-quality development of tourism industry is a fundamental requirement for building a strong tourism country, and an important path for empowering common prosperity and realising Chinese-style modernization. Based on the theory of industrial development, the article defines the theoretical connotation and constructs the index system of high-quality development of tourism industry, and adopts exploratory spatiotemporal data analysis and spatiotemporal geographically weighted regression to gain insights into the spatiotemporal interactive evolution characteristics of high-quality development of tourism industry and heterogeneity of the driving factors in the 31 provincial-level regions of China from 2000 to 2020. The study finds that: (1) the high-quality development level of tourism industry has gradually increased, forming a distribution pattern of “eastern>Central>western”, with a significant spatial clustering trend. (2) The volatility of the local spatial structure and dependence direction of high-quality development of tourism industry is weakening, with the local spatial structure of the eastern region being more volatile but forming a relatively stable dependence direction, while the opposite is true for the central and western regions; the competition of the local spatial structure of the three regions is gradually increasing, especially in the eastern region; the number of provinces with spatial and temporal leaps during the study period is relatively small, and there is significant path dependence and spatial locking in the high-quality development of tourism industry. (3) The impact of government regulation has shifted from negative to positive, particularly benefiting the high-quality tourism development in the western region; the advantageous influence of transportation conditions has increasingly emerged, particularly benefiting the eastern and central regions; both opening up and digital infrastructure have demonstrated positive effects at all stages, with the former encouraging the eastern and central regions more than the western region, and the latter conversely; the industrial structure has been generally positive, except for the negative effect from 2011 to 2015; the positive effect of science, technology and innovation has weakened, and the spatial pattern of “eastern > central > western” has been formed. The spatial pattern of “eastern > central > western” has been formed.

The rapid development of cruise tourism has made it one of the most competitive sectors in the modern tourism industry. Seasonality is a primary characteristic of tourism activities, significantly shaping cruise tourism operations and development. However, existing research on the seasonality of cruise tourism continues to follow traditional paradigms, often neglecting the distinctive nature of cruise tourism compared to other types of tourism, particularly the crucial influence of shipping factors on cruise tourism seasonality. In addition, current literature often on seasonal characteristics of the measurement method is also relatively one-sided. In light of this, this study examines the Mediterranean region, integrating seasonal types, seasonal concentration, and seasonal variation structure to depict the seasonal characteristics of cruise ports. It further analyzes how shipping factors shape port seasonality from the perspectives of interregional complementary cruising, port hierarchy, and shipping functions. The results show that: (1) three primary seasonality types characterize Mediterranean cruise ports: multi-season operation-relative concentration-bimodal pattern in summer and autumn, year-round operation-relative balanced-bimodal pattern in summer and autumn, year-round operation-relative concentration-bimodal pattern in summer and autumn. (2) Year-round and multi-season ports are predominantly located around the Apennine Peninsula; the spatial distribution of seasonal concentration shows a basic pattern of “low in the west and high in the east”; and the spatial pattern of port seasonality show a “dual-peak in center, single or no peak in the east and west” spatial pattern. (3) The unique locational condition of market centrality underpins geographic clustering of ports offering multi-regional complementary cruising during specific seasons. Port market positioning in competitive contexts shapes distinctive seasonal preferences by port hierarchy. Dual-functionality as both transport hubs and tourism destinations distinguish the seasonal traits of home ports and hub ports from transit ports. This study analyzes the seasonal characteristics and spatial distribution of cruise ports, clarifies the significant influence of shipping factors such as complementary cruising, port hierarchy, and shipping functions on port seasonality, and provides theoretical guidance for cruise tourism planning, route allocation, fleet deployment, and development strategies in China.

Rural tourism promotes the flow of urban and rural elements through the development of characteristic resources, and then drives the endogenous development of rural areas. Based on the data of 30 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) from 2011 to 2020, this paper uses entropy method, fixed effect panel regression model and mediating effect model to measure the level of rural tourism and rural endogenous development, and empirically demonstrates the impact of rural tourism on rural endogenous development. The research findings are as follows: (1) rural tourism has a direct impact on rural endogenous development by promoting the transformation of local resources, expanding the main participation channels, enhancing residents' cultural identity, improving rural governance structure and improving the livable environment of villages. (2) The resource type, income scale, tourist number and market entities of rural tourism all have significant influence on rural endogenous development, among which the rural tourism market entities have the most significant influence on rural endogenous development. (3) Rural industrial structure and urban-rural income gap have an intermediary effect on the relationship between rural tourism and rural endogenous development, which indirectly promotes rural endogenous development. The research enriches the theoretical explanation of endogenous rural development, and provides scientific reference for the high-quality development of rural tourism and the adjustment of urban-rural integration policies.

Under the superimposed influence of the post-Winter Olympics era and post-pandemic consumption, ice and snow sports have entered a stage of rapid development. This paper constructs an evaluation index system for the high-quality development level of the ice and snow tourism industry in Jilin Province from 2013 to 2022 by using the entropy value method, and utilizes the grey relational model to explore its driving factors. The research findings are as follows: (1) the overall level of high-quality development of ice and snow tourism industry in Jilin presents a fast rising trend, but there are certain differences in the internal dimensions of high-quality development, the level of more stable in the dimensions of innovation and green development, the level in the four dimensions of the stability, coordination, openness, and shared development dimensions are more sensitive to the social economy. (2) Among the contribution rates of various dimensions, innovation development has the highest contribution rate, followed by green development and stable development. Coordination development has the lowest contribution rate. (3) There are differences in the influence of each factor on the level of high-quality development of the ice and snow tourism industry in Jilin and its dimensions, and the three major driving forces of industrial demand, industrial supply, and industrial environment positively promote the high-quality development of ice and snow tourism industry. Accordingly, the paper proposes countermeasures and suggestions, in terms of vigorously stimulating industrial demand, continuously optimizing industrial supply, and create a favorable industrial environment to achieve the high-quality development of the ice and snow tourism industry in the province.

The construction of domestic cruise brands is of great significance in enhancing the national image, supporting the strategy of building a maritime power, and accelerating the upgrading and transformation of cruise tourism. The study takes the domestic cruise Adora Magic City as a case study, based on first-hand interview data and second-hand online text data, uses grounded theory to construct three dimensions of domestic cruise brand ethnicity-consumer behavior, national sentiment, and market competitiveness, and then adopts a fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis method to explore the influencing factors among various dimensions of the brand ethnicity of domestic cruise. The results show that: (1) tourist experience has a significant impact on shaping brand ethnicity, with tourist satisfaction being the driving force for enhancing brand loyalty of domestic cruise; (2) Chinese traditional culture establishes an emotional bond between domestic cruise brands and consumers, and the inheritance of identity and cultural elements plays a key role in this process; (3) Technological innovation and market performance are the two core factors in enhancing brand international competitiveness, providing continuous momentum for consolidating the market position of domestic cruise brands. Research can help reveal the unique advantages of shaping domestic cruise brands, thereby promoting the sustainable development of China’s cruise industry.

The construction of spiritual and cultural landmarks is a crucial part of the development of national cultural parks and the construction of a strong socialist cultural nation. It plays a significant role in refining and excavating the essence of excellent culture and building a spiritual community. This paper employs a literature analytical method to define the concept and connotation of spiritual and cultural landmarks. The study concludes that: (1) spiritual and cultural landmarks are cultural landscapes with significant spiritual and cultural identifiers in space, characterized by five main connotations: spatial orientation, time continuity, innovative content, public recognition, openness and inclusiveness. (2) These landmarks are the result of cultural diffusion and integration and serve as material representations of cultural identity. They have evolved from mere landmarks to cultural landmarks, and eventually to spiritual and cultural landmarks. (3) Spiritual cultural landmarks have the value of forming shared cultural memories, enhancing cultural identity, and constructing a sense of community, which are foundational for the the convergence of multiple identities, enhancement of cultural confidence, and promotion of national unity. Future research should expand the research scope of cultural geography，further reveal the formation and evolution processes of spiritual culture in different regions and the function mechanisms of influencing factors. It should also explore the scientific path of spiritual cultural landmark system construction to deepen the understanding of spiritual and cultural landmarks, and provide references for the construction and management of national cultural parks.

The way in which information is presented in destination tourism advertisements significantly influences tourists’ travel decisions. But how does the interaction between goal framing and information content in tourism advertisements affect tourists’ travel intentions? Based on the framing effect theory, this paper explores the interactive influence, underlying mechanisms, and boundary conditions of destination tourism advertisements’ goal framing (gain framing vs. loss framing) and information content (subjective information vs. objective information) on tourists’ travel intentions through three experiments. The findings reveal that: (1) goal framing and information content have an interactive effect on tourists' travel intentions, where the match between gain framing and objective information, and the match between loss framing and subjective information enhance tourists’ travel intentions. (2) Perceived image plays a partial mediating role in the influence of tourism advertising goal framing and information content on tourists’ travel intentions. (3) Tourists’ conscientiousness significantly moderates the interactive effect of goal framing and information content. Specifically, under the matching condition of gain framing and objective information, tourists with high conscientiousness show stronger travel intentions, while under the matching condition of loss framing and subjective information, there is no significant difference in travel intentions across different levels of conscientiousness. The study not only extends the theoretical research on framing effects in the field of tourism marketing, but also provides practical implications for destination marketers on how to construct goal framing and information content of tourism advertisements to attract more tourists.

The human settlements environment of coastal cities is an important foundation for the development of coastal tourism, yet vulnerable to disasters. Based on the panel data of 17 coastal cities in the Bohai Rim from 2010 to 2021, this paper comprehensively uses the entropy weight-TOPSIS model and the coupling coordination degree model to explore the tempo-spatial evolution features of the coupling coordination between tourism economy and human settlements resilience, and uses the obstacle degree model to identify the obstacle factors preventing the coordinated development of the two systems. The results show that: (1) during the study period, the development level of tourism economy and human settlements resilience shows a slow fluctuating upward trend, but the latter was better than the former; the spatial differentiation characteristics of the two systems are similar, showing a “multi-pole” pattern with three typical tourist cities of Tianjin, Dalian and Qingdao as high-value areas, and the low-value areas are concentrated in the northwest and southwest regions of the Bohai Rim. (2) The level of coupled coordination of tourism economy and human settlements resilience of coastal cities in the Bohai Rim has gradually evolved from the stage of near-disorder at the beginning of the research period to the stage of bare coordination at the end of the research period, and dominant type of the coupling coordination is economy lagging behind human settlements resilience type; the coordination level of typical tourist cities represented by Tianjin, Dalian and Qingdao is higher than that of non-traditional tourist cities such as Cangzhou, Binzhou, Jinzhou and Huludao. (3) The lagging development of tourism economy has always been the bottleneck of the improvement of the coordination level of the two systems. Multiple factors such as the downturn of the inbound tourism market, the insufficient reception of domestic tourists and the imperfect tourism service facilities restrict the coordinated development of the two systems.

Urban scenic spots are important driving factors for promoting the adjustment of urban elements and spatial evolution. Based on the field theory and spatial production theory, this paper constructs a spatial evolution analysis framework for the development of tourism field driven by urban scenic spots. Taking Harbin Ice-Snow World as an example, this paper analyzes the spatial evolution process and mechanism of constructing tourism field centered on urban scenic spots. The study found that: (1) in the process of construction and development of urban scenic spots, policy support and the participation of actors have made scenic spots and their surrounding areas increasing in the number of tourism elements improving the element system. (2) The development of tourism field is a spatial evolution process driven by growth poles, that is, after the development of scenic spots, they gradually become regional growth poles and expand to the surrounding space. The production space and consumption space penetrate into each other during the expansion process, thus forming a tourism field. (3) Power domination, capital intervention, and habitus guidance work together in the process of urban scenic spots driving the development of tourism field. The interest coordination and behavioral coordination among actors promote the adjustment and allocation of elements in the region, and finally form a tourism field with a stable spatial production structure. This paper expands the application scenarios of field theory, and the research conclusions can provide useful references for the high-quality development of urban tourism and the optimization of urban spatial layout.

In the post-Winter Olympics era, the competition in the ski resort market is becoming increasingly intensive, thus ski resorts are urgently requested to improve and upgrade themselves to meet new market demands and achieve sustainable development. However, previous literature has not identified the asymmetrical relationships between attributes and tourist satisfaction. In this study, using the Changbai Mountain Wanda International Resort as a case study area, we employed Impact-Range Performance Analysis (IRPA) and Impact Asymmetry Analysis (IAA) to evaluate the asymmetrical influences of resort attributes on tourist satisfaction from the perspective of tourist’ perception (N=344). The results indicate that: (1) ski slopes at case site have significant impact on tourist satisfaction but underperformed as an attribute in need of improvement. (2) Accommodation, climate and natural environment, safety management, and cultural environment are highly rated by tourists, and are proved to have a significant and positive impact on tourist satisfaction. (3) Among all the attributes, cable cars are delighters, strongly associated with high tourist satisfaction; instructors, dining, and routine management, as hybrids, and have a linear relationship with satisfaction. Accommodation, cultural environment, staff, accessibility, entertainment, and smart services and management are dissatisfier and frustrators, as they are more likely to cause tourist dissatisfaction. The findings of this study not only deepen the understanding of the differential impact of different attributes of ski resorts on tourist’ experience from the perspective of tourist’ perception, but also provide theoretical references for the optimization of services and management of similar ski resorts in Changbai Mountains and Northeast China.

Affected by global warming and the urban heat island effect, the demand for summer tourism among urban residents has grown rapidly. This study focuses on tourists’ subjective perception of the differences in weather comfort between their originating places and summer destinations. Through online questionnaires, tourists’ subjective ratings of meteorological conditions were collected, and five key meteorological factors influencing summer weather comfort daily mean temperature, daily maximum temperature, daily mean relative humidity, daily mean wind speed, and sunshine duration were selected as the core indicators of the model. The coolness level was divided into four grades: very cool, cool, relatively cool, and not cool. An innovative Coolness Index (CI) model for summer tourism was constructed. Using Chongqing as the test area, the summer tourism coolness index of 19 summer resorts in 2022 was analyzed. The results show that: (1) in the very cool level, compared with the central urban area of Chongqing during the same period, the summer resorts had an average daily temperature is 9.9°C lower, a maximum daily temperature is 7.7°C lower, a daily average relative humidity is 21% higher, a daily average wind speed is 0.2 m/s lower, and the number of sunshine hours is 0.5 hours less. (2) With the decrease of coolness level, the differences in meteorological factors gradually narrow. The Coolness Index model can accurately capture and effectively quantify the differences in weather comfort between the tourists’ originating places and summer destinations, overcoming the limitations of traditional models based on historical climate data and ignoring dynamic weather changes. This study advances research methods for tourism comfort and, combined with intelligent grid forecasting technology, provides scientific reference for urban residents in choosing summer destinations.

The relationship between tourism development and CO₂ emissions has attracted considerable interest from researchers worldwide under the background of global climate governance and the claim of China’s “dual carbon” goal. However, existing studies tend to concentrate solely on tourism without examining the broader impact of the socio-economic system in which it resides. From a holistic perspective, this article uses fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis methods and necessary condition analysis based on a total of 93 cases from 31 different types of cities in China to reveal the synergistic causal impact of tourism development and various factors such as economic development, industrial structure, innovation capacity and population size on CO₂ emissions. The results show that: (1) neither tourism nor other single variable is a necessary or sufficient condition for regional CO₂ emissions; (2) there are three patterns driving high CO₂ emissions, namely the industry-driven, economy-tourism driven, and population-industry driven; and (3) there are three patterns of low CO₂ emissions, namely the low development driven, tourism driven, and economy driven. The article confirms the complex impacts of tourism development and other core conditions on CO₂ emissions from configurational perspectives. The article identifies a causal asymmetry in the driving mechanisms of CO₂ emissions, i.e., the presence or absence of tourism development may drive either high or low CO₂ emissions. Moreover, the article provides a solid theoretical basis for tailoring tourism development to local conditions and promoting tourism’s low-carbon development.

Birdwatching tourism, a significant subset of wildlife tourism, plays a vital role in ecological conservation, ecotourism, and the sustainable development of communities. This paper employs CiteSpace 6.2.R4 to analyze the research process, development trends and emerging themes in international research on birdwatching tourism from 2003 to 2023. The findings are as follows: (1) the number of published articles has consistently increased. Based on variations in publication volume and thematic evolution, birdwatching tourism research can be divided into three phases: initial exploration and foundational research, deepening exploration and value assessment, and ongoing development with a focus on sustainability. (2) Research in this field is characterized by significant interdisciplinary engagement, with developed countries, particularly in North America, dominating the field. Several high-output and influential research teams have emerged; however, the collaboration network remains fragmented, and a core group of authors has not yet materialized. (3) Key research topics include the cultural ecosystem services of birdwatching tourism, citizen science and birdwatching behavior, the sustainable development of birdwatching destinations, and the socio-economic impacts of the industry. Recent focal points in the field include cultural ecosystem services, environmental responsibility behaviors, citizen science, human-bird interactions, urban birdwatching tourism, and the ecological and economic value of birdwatching. In China, birdwatching tourism research is still in its early stages, lagging behind industry practices. It is recommended that future studies adopt a macro-meso-micro framework, encompassing four components: birdwatchers (subjects), birdwatching resources (objects), the birdwatching industry (media), and the birdwatching environment (carriers). This approach will facilitate interdisciplinary and international research on topics such as community-based birdwatching, the impact and demand of birdwatchers, and cross-border studies, providing scientific insights for the development of birdwatching tourism and the establishment of bird conservation area systems.

Wellness tourism has an important value in serving national strategy, industrial practice and individual health. This paper discusses issues related to the theory, industrial practice and health effects of wellness tourism. The study concludes that: (1) wellness tourism is a multi-industry and multi-dimensional industrial model centered on the health industry, including health, tourism, senior-care, wellness, physical examination, prevention and treatment and it has a unique value in the personal, economic, social and ecological aspects. (2) Wellness tourism consumer group can cover the whole life cycle of the population, and the consumption motives are diversified, yet the mismatch between supply and demand is problematic. (3) Wellness tourism is highly dependent on high-quality ecological resources, thus the transformation of destination image from visual landscape to in-depth experience is the precursor of the transformation of traditional sightseeing to recreation and health resort tourism, and its evaluation and brand construction should concentrate on the tourists. (4) The development of wellness tourism is faced with the concept of inconsistency, homogeneity of products, the lack of quality standards, the shortage of specialized talents and the health effect that cannot be scientifically measured, and other specific problems; meanwhile, it should respond to the social concerns regarding the migration of senior population. (5) Wellness tourism as a linking element for mental health, can enhance the well-being of the individual's life, and realize physiological health effects through the support of environmental perception, physical participation and social interaction, and it is also a preventive tool for mental illnesses. Informed by the national strategy of Healthy China and the development trend of wellness tourism in the new era, academics should strengthen the theoretical and methodological research under the cross-disciplinary perspective, so as to provide scientific support for the practice of wellness tourism and its health effects.