Evaluation and analysis of tourism resources and environmental carrying capacity (TRECC) of 278 cities in China: A pressure-support perspective

Abstract

Sustainable development has emerged as a fundamental objective in contemporary tourism decision-making. The evaluation and analysis of tourism resources and environmental carrying capacity (TRECC) play a crucial role in comprehending and mitigating the conflict between the preservation and utilization of tourism resources and environment, thereby ensuring sustainable tourism development. This study constructs a conceptual framework and an evaluation index system for TRECC from a pressure-support perspective. It quantifies and evaluates the TRECC of 278 Chinese cities, evaluating and analyzing their overall performance, restricting factors, spatial distribution, and common characteristics. The study reveals the following: (1) The majority of cities are in a high-value surplus state, while only a few cities are in a low-value surplus state. Only Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chongqing, Wuhan, Suzhou, and Dongguan are in a low-value overload state, with Shanghai showing a tendency to transition into the high-value overload state, necessitating heightened monitoring and early warning systems. (2) Scenic spot abundance, natural environment, industry support, tourist scale, and air pollution are the main factors restricting TRECC for most cities. (3) An imbalance is observed in the spatial distribution of TRECC, with the support index high in the southeast and low in the northwest, and the pressure index and TRECC index high in the east and low in the west, or high in the coast and low in the interior. The core cities of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration, Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration and Pearl River Delta urban agglomeration are hotspots where high values of TRECC are significantly clustered. (4) Based on TRECC characteristics, cities can be classified into eight types: mega tourism cities, super tourism cities, large tourism cities, southern tourism cities, northwestern tourism cities, tourist-barrier cities, non-tourism-oriented cities, and industrial tourism cities. With these results, policy implications to optimize TRECC are provided, producing an effective reference for formulating tourism development planning.