The synergistic evolution of tourism development and ecological civilization construction in the Yellow River Basin

Since ecological protection and high-quality development became an important national strategy for the Yellow River Basin, the relationship between tourism development and ecolognical civilization construction in the region has drawn significant academic attention. Drawing on synergetics theory, this study thoroughly analyzes the synergistic evolution mechanism of tourism development and ecological civilization construction. This study analyzes the synergistic evolution of the two systems using the Haken model and HP filter analysis on data from 78 prefecture-level cities in the Yellow River Basin. Furthermore, it leverages an obstacle degree model to identify and classify systemic impediments, thereby informing the design of targeted promotion strategies. The results indicate that: (1) Tourism development in the Yellow River Basin has undergone three distinct phases, "steady improvement", "sharp decline", and "moderate recovery", and exhibits a "core-edge" spatial structure. Meanwhile, the level of ecological civilization construction has steadily improved, forming a spatial pattern of "the contiguity of low-value areas and the dispersion of high-value areas". (2) Ecological civilization construction is identified as an order parameter, which facilitates the synergistic evolution and upgrading of the complex giant system. This process can be divided into three stages: "gradual improvement (2012-2016)", "secondary development (2017-2019)", and "accelerated upgrading (2020-2021)". (3) The synergistic evolution of this complex giant system is characterized by a reduction in primary co-evolution areas, an expansion of intermediate co-evolution areas, stable higher-level co-evolution areas, and a sporadic distribution of those higher-level areas. (4) The main obstacles to synergistic evolution have shifted from being dominated by ecological factors to being driven by economic development. Furthermore, in various prefecture-level cities, the predominant obstacles have evolved from diversified differentiation to a focus on economic development or social livelihood. In the new development stage, at the basin level, the government should seize the opportunity to strengthen regional coordination and linkage strategies. For prefecture-level cities, local governments need to adopt measures suited to their specific conditions and implement targeted policies accordingly.