Spatiotemporal evolution and obstacles of tourism socioecological system sustainability from pressure and resilience perspective in arid regions

Tourism destinations in arid regions are increasingly facing multifaceted pressures, including intensifying resource and environmental constraints and growing tourism development demands. The sustainability of these destinations largely relies on the collective resilience of ecological, economic, and social systems. This study develops a conceptual framework and an indicator system for assessing the sustainability of Tourism Socioecological Systems (TSES) in arid regions from the perspective of pressure and resilience. Employing the improved TOPSIS method, State Classification Functions, Coupling Coordination Models, and Obstacle Degree Models, this study evaluated the sustainability levels of TSES in Xinjiang from 2010 to 2020. Additionally, the spatiotemporal evolution, coupling coordination relationships, and obstacle factors were analyzed. The results reveal that: (1) The overall sustainability of TSES in Xinjiang improved during the study period. Spatially, sustainability was highest in key tourism-economic cities such as Urumqi and gradually decreased in surrounding areas, with significant regional disparities. (2) The number of regions in a sustainable surplus state increased, while those in a load state decreased, indicating enhanced resilience and reduced pressures. However, improvements in some prefecture-level units, such as Turpan and Hami, remained limited. (3) The coupling coordination dynamics of Xinjiang's 14 prefectures improved steadily, with most regions transitioning from passive coordination to low/medium-level coordination. However, achieving high-level coordination remains challenging, suggesting the need for further optimization of pressure-resilience interactions. (4) Obstacle factors to sustainability showed significant regional heterogeneity, with spatial occupancy pressure from tourists and population carrying pressure being universal constraints. These findings provide scientific guidance for the sustainable development of TSES in Xinjiang and other arid regions.