Research on the coupling and coordination relationship between ecological environment and cultural tourism industry in the Yangtze River national cultural park
As a river basin-based composite space undertaking the threefold missions of cultural inheritance, ecological conservation, and industrial development. How to promote the synergistic development of the ecological environment and the cultural and tourism industry has become a key issue in the high-quality construction of the Yangtze River national cultural park. This study takes 13 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government covered by Yangtze River national cultural park as the study area. Based on the panel data from 2014 to 2023, this study constructed an evaluation index system for the development level of the cultural and tourism industry and the ecological environment of the Yangtze River national cultural park. The entropy weight method was used to measure the development level of the ecological environment and the cultural and tourism industry in the 13 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities. The coupling coordination degree model was employed to assess the integrated development level of the ecological environment and the cultural and tourism industry, and the types of regional imbalance are identified. Finally, differentiated coordinated development strategies for the upper, middle, and lower reaches were proposed. The research findings are as follows. 1) The development levels of the ecological environment and the cultural and tourism industry in the Yangtze River national cultural park exhibit significant spatiotemporal differentiation and reverse complementary characteristics. 2) The coupling degree between the ecological environment and the cultural and tourism industry in the Yangtze River national cultural park is high and stable. 3) The coupling coordination degree between the ecological environment and the cultural and tourism industry in the Yangtze River national cultural park is relatively low, with diverse types of regional imbalance. This study provides a quantitative basis for the synergistic development of ecological protection and the cultural and tourism industry in the Yangtze River Basin, and offers practical suggestions for the construction of the Yangtze River national cultural park.
RongY Y, YangJ. Study on the protection and development of the Anhui section of the Huai River Basin from the perspective of ecotourism: a case study of the Huai River River Basin folk art[J]. Frontiers in Humanities and Social Sciences, 2023, 3(5): 21-27.
ZhangY X, LiY Q. Industrial integration development of agricultural cultural heritage sites based on tourism and its realization path[J]. Tourism Tribune, 2022, 37(6): 7-9. (Ch).
ZengY. Application of Shen Guanhui environmental information sharing platform in cross-border environmental management[J]. Ecological Environment and Protection, 2019(6): 11-12. (Ch).
TangC C, HuangZ R, WangY F, et al. Review and prospect of researches on Chinese national cultural parks under the strategy of building a powerful cultural country[J]. Journal of Arid Land Resources and Environment, 2023, 37(6): 1-10. (Ch).
CuiP, JinW. Strategic opportunities and challenges of soil and water conservation and ecological construction in Yangtze River Basin[J]. Yangtze River, 2018, 49(19): 1-5. (Ch).
ZhangQ, LuoS F, HuangY, et al. Temporal and spatial evolution and influencing factors of coupling coordination degree between tourism industry and ecological civilization construction in ethnic areas[J]. Journal of Guilin University of Technology, 2024, 44(2): 375-384. (Ch).
FuC W. National objectives, regional characteristics and planning suggestions in the construction of the Yang River national cultural park[J]. Decision & Information, 2022(8): 5-9. (Ch).
FuC W, ChengY M. The construction logic of cultural tourism for “cultural Yangtze River” super IP: from the perspective of national parks with Yangtze River culture as their theme[J]. Fujian Tribune, 2022(8): 13-25. (Ch).
HeY C, ChenG, ZengB D, et al. Spatial distribution pattern and influencing factors of high quality scenic spots in Yangtze River national cultural park[J]. Areal Research and Development, 2023, 42(6): 93-100. (Ch).
SunY F, LiuS Y. The logic and dimension of the construction of Yangtze River national cultural park empowered by digitalization[J]. Social Sciences in Nanjing, 2023(10): 161-168. (Ch).
PanY, WengG M, ShengK, et al. Analysis of the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics and spatial difference of “tourism +” system coordinated development in the Yangtze River Economic Belt[J]. Resources and Environment in the Yangtze Basin, 2020, 29(9): 1897-1909. (Ch).
DingH. Research on the development level and coordination of cultural industry and tourism industry in the Yangtze River Economic Belt[J]. Journal of Commercial Economics, 2023(21): 184-188. (Ch).
[24]
ChengQ, LuoZ H, XiangL. Spatiotemporal differentiation of coupling and coordination relationship of the tea industry-tourism-ecological environment system in Fujian Province, China[J/OL]. Sustainability, 2021, 13(19):10628.
[25]
ChenX L, YuZ, LiangC L, et al. Where is the path to sustainable marine development? evaluation and empirical analysis of the synergy between marine carrying capacity and marine economy high-quality development[J/OL]. Water, 2024, 16(3):394.
[26]
ZhangY J, HaseebM, HossainM E, et al. Study on the coupling and coordination degree between urban tourism development and habitat environment in the Yangtze River Delta in China[J]. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 2023, 30(6): 14805-14820.
WangG Y, ZhangX B. Coordinating water conservancy scenic resources to empower the development of national cultural parks: a case study of the Yangtze River national cultural park[J]. Water Culture, 2025(6): 3-6. (Ch).
QiuG Y, TuJ J. On integration of laozi’s thought on ecological ethics into the construction of the Yangtze River national cultural park[J]. Journal of Western China, 2025(14): 73-76. (Ch).
LiuY, XuJ H, LiuY Y. Research on the coupling and coordination relationship between ecological environment and cultural tourism industry in the Yellow River Basin[J]. On Economic Problems, 2024(2): 105-112. (Ch).
ZhaoJ, GuoP Y, WangH. Research on coupling coordination of the cultural industry, the tourism industry, and the ecological environment in the Yellow River Basin[J]. Human Geography, 2024, 39(5): 184-192. (Ch).
[35]
WangM Y, WangX T.A study of eco-culture-tourism coupling and coordinated development and influencing mechanism in the Yellow River Basin based on spatial production theory[J/OL].Ecological Indicators,2025,176:113689.
[36]
ZhuK, ZhouQ, ChengY F, et al. Regional sustainability: pressures and responses of tourism economy and ecological environment in the Yangtze River Basin, China[J/OL]. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 2023, 11:1148868.
ZhouC, FengX G, TangR. Analysis and forecast of coupling coordination development among the regional economy-ecological environment-tourism industry: a case study of provinces along the Yangtze economic zone[J]. Economic Geography, 2016, 36(3): 186-193. (Ch).
ChenS Y, SunQ Z, QiaoH. Building a beautiful China through locally adapted strategies: economic impacts of environmental governance in the Yangtze River Basin[J]. The Journal of World Economy, 2025, 48(9): 3-32. (Ch).
[41]
LiL, FengR D, HouG L, et al. Integrating tourism supply-demand and environmental sensitivity into the tourism network identification of ecological functional zone[J/OL]. Ecological Indicators, 2024, 158:111505.
ZhangZ P. An analysis of the integrated development path of cultural tourism industry and ecological agriculture under the background of rural revitalization[J]. Administration Reform, 2021, 5(5): 64-70. (Ch).
HuangZ H, FuL L. Zhejiang’s practical exploration and mode analysis of building a demonstration zone for common prosperity[J]. Reform, 2022(5): 21-33. (Ch).
WangZ F, LiuL F. The coupling and influencing factors between the common prosperity of residents and the level of tourism development in the Yangtze River Economic Belt[J]. Journal of Central China Normal University (Natural Sciences), 2024, 58(1): 59-71. (Ch).
HuangY Q, ZhangJ, JieX T, et al. Research on the coupling coordination evaluation and influencing factors of rural ecological civilization construction and tourism development in the Yangtze River Economic Belt under the background of rural revitalization. [J/OL]. Journal of Ecology and Rural Environment, 2025-11-04.
[50]
WangZ W, HanH L. Analysis on tourism environmental pollution and tourism economy-ecological environmental coordination degree: a case study from China[J]. Nature Environment and Pollution Technology, 2021, 20(3): 1353-1361.
WangX J, WuJ X, JiangH P.Dynamic assessment and trend prediction of rural eco-environmental quality in China[J].Journal of Natural Resources,2017,32(5):864-876.(Ch).
XiaJ C, QuH, ShangX X. Measurement of the competitiveness level of provincial cultural industry and its evolution of spatio-temporal pattern in China[J]. Journal of Capital University of Economics and Business, 2023, 25(2): 3-14. (Ch).
HuW X, ZhaoP P. Coupling between the cultural resource endowment and tourism development level in Yellow River national cultural park[J]. Journal of Arid Land Resources and Environment, 2023, 37(1): 177-184. (Ch).
HuangZ G, LiJ. Influence of land acquisition for rural tourism on the well-being of landless farmers based on the empirical analysis of PSM model[J].Resources Science,2021,43(1):171-184.(Ch).
LiL, XuJ.Measurement of the integrated development level of China’s cultural and tourism industry and its driving factors analysis[J].Statistics& Decision,2020,36(20):49-52.(Ch).