Spatial and Temporal Changes and Influencing Factors of Tourism Resilience in China’s Provinces under the Impact of COVID-19

Abstract

COVID-19 has led to the interruption of personnel flow, and the tourism industry has become one of the most seriously affected industries. With the gradual improvement of the domestic epidemic situation, the tourism industry has recovered in various provinces and regions, but that recovery shows the characteristics of temporal and spatial heterogeneity. From the perspective of “resilience”, this study characterizes the resistance and recovery of the tourism industry in the face of the epidemic impact, analyzes the trends of change, spatial pattern and phased characteristics of tourism resilience, and explores the factors influencing the differences in tourism resili-ence. The results indicate that China's tourism industry shows obvious resilience characteristics, and the trend of tourism resilience in most provinces and regions fluctuates and rises. For example, Gansu, Hainan, Guizhou, Hebei and Shandong have a high level of comprehensive toughness, while Tibet, Ningxia, Shanxi and Beijing have a very low level of comprehensive toughness, and most other provinces and regions show the characteristic pattern of “weak in the north and strong in the south”. This study shows that China's tourism resilience has experienced three stages: hard resistance, accelerated recovery and increasing with fluctuation. The resistance of the tourism industry to the impact of the epidemic is generally weak, and the ability to recover is significantly variable. The severity of the epidemic, the strictness of prevention and control policies, the joint influences of tourist source-destination, tourism foundation, geographical location and other factors will have a certain impact on tourism resilience.