Exploring Spatial Correlations of Tourism Ecological Security in China: A Perspective from Social Network Analysis

Abstract

The imbalance of regional tourism ecological security (TES) is an important barrier to the sustainable development of tourism. Relying on the spatial correlation network to coordinate the regional TES is effective. Taking 31 provinces in China as examples, social network analysis (SNA) and the quadratic assignment procedure (QAP) are used to analyze the spatial network structure of TES and its influencing factors. The results show that (1) the network density and the number of network relationships increased, while the network efficiency remained at approximately 0.7, and the network hierarchy decreased from 0.376 to 0.234. (2) Jiangsu, Guangdong, Shandong, Zhejiang, and Henan were always more central than the average and dominated. Anhui, Shanghai, and Guangxi have much lower centrality degrees than the average, with little effect on other provinces. (3) The TES networks could be divided into four parts: “net spillover”, “agent”, “bidirectional spillover” and “net benefit”. (4) The differences in economic development level, tourism industry dependence, tourism load level, educational attainment, investment in environmental governance, and transportation accessibility all had a negative impact on the TES spatial network, whereas geographic proximity had a positive driving effect. In conclusion, the spatial correlation network of provincial TES in China is increasingly close, but the network structure is loose and hierarchical. The core–edge structure is obvious, and there are significant spatial autocorrelations and spatial spillover effects between provinces. The difference in regional influencing factors has a significant effect on the TES network. This paper presents a new research framework for the spatial correlation of TES and provides a Chinese solution to promote the sustainable development of tourism.