Weighting landscape imagery variables for sustainable tourism development of traditional villages in Jiangxi Province, China

In tourism, local authorities must conduct continuous assessments of tourist site landscapes by identifying and understanding landscape imagery variables, which are crucial for promoting sustainable tourism development (STD). However, assessments and decision-making remain difficult due to a lack of knowledge about the importance of each landscape imagery variable. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the relative importance and weights of landscape imagery variables that promote STD in traditional villages. This study based its evaluation on images of two traditional Chinese villages. Ten experts from China were recruited to classify the images based on the variables and to rank the variables within each image according to their importance. Guided by the results of this evaluation, we developed an analytical hierarchy process to determine the weights of landscape imagery variables. The results showed that sense of place achieved the highest weight (W = 10), then aesthetics achieved the second highest weight (W = 7), indicating that the tourists’ emotions with cultural connection and attractiveness of landscape elements promote STD and attract visitors. In contrast, diversity, visibility, and accessibility variables achieved the lowest weight (W = 1), suggesting that diversity and significant visual or physical accessibility are not essential for STD. Overall, the study determined the relative weights of landscape imagery variables and optimisation for decision support to promote STD and attract visitors in traditional villages in China.