Structural Equation Modelling in Real Time Decision Making for Mountain Tourism Using Remote Sensing

This study was an attempt to analyse decision-making frameworks in mountain tourism with the application of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), remote sensing data analysis, and environmental impact assessment analysis, and to project a data-driven decision-making method applicable to identify key factors influencing sustainable tourism management. Using an integrated data collection approach with remote sensing and tourism-specific knowledge in this study, an integrated decision-support framework was computed and classified into hierarchical levels of decision-making priorities. During the process, a set of environmental and tourism-related factors were selected (here, environmental settings, visitor preferences, and safety standards) together with the degree of impact in sustainability of mountain tourism. Integrated SEM analysis and geospatial modeling were applied to generate the necessary factors (geospatial and environmental) maps for real-time decision-making approach. The SEM model, along with geospatial overlay analysis method, was used to determine the significance of the factors, and on the other hand, remote sensing technology was applied for calculating environmental risks and resource availability. The entire process was executed in the integrated GIS and SEM-based software tool that supports real-time analysis and visualization. The analysis showed that the overall sustainability performance of the area was at moderate level and was partly determined by availability of facilities and environmental conditions. Areas under high visitor pressure of environmentally sensitive regions indicated that the sustainability status showed critical vulnerabilities in these parts of the mountainous regions. The study also revealed that visitor preferences and environmental factors have serious influence on the decision-making priorities of the tourism management teams. Considering geospatial and socio-environmental characteristics of mountainous regions, the study area was further divided into four priority zones which may serve as base guidelines of planning and intervention strategies for the sustainable development of mountain tourism.