ASSESSMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL
CARRYING CAPACITY OF ECOTOURISM IN
THE YELLOW RIVER ESTUARY
Su Guo
School of Economy, Shandong Women’s University, Jinan, Shandong, 250300,
China
Taile Zhang*
School of Economy, Shandong Women’s University, Jinan, Shandong, 250300,
China
sdnzxy0102@126.com
Junfu Cui
School of Economy, Shandong Women’s University, Jinan, Shandong, 250300,
China
Reception: 14/03/2023 Acceptance: 23/05/2023 Publication: 10/06/2023
Suggested citation:
Guo, S., Zhang, T. and Cui, J. (2023). Assessment of environmental carrying
capacity of ecotourism in the Yellow River estuary. 3C TIC. Cuadernos de
desarrollo aplicados a las TIC, 12(2), 342-358. https://doi.org/
10.17993/3ctic.2023.122.342-358
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ABSTRACT
Tourism environmental carrying capacity, a term born out of the booming development
of the tourist industry and a basis for determining whether tourism activities negatively
impact the environment, comes under the spotlight in the field of tourism research To
preserve the exploitation of tourism resources in the Yellow River estuary, re-frame
tourism structure and protect the environment, this paper dissected the current
development and utilization of wetland tourism resources in the region and the
corresponding resource advantages in virtue of SWOT and assessed the local
ecotourism environmental carrying capacity by applying the evaluation model of
ecotourism environmental carrying capacity. Years between 2017 and 2021 reported
overweighted human social and economic activities in the Yellow River Estuary,
proving the assessment outcomes. From 2017 to 2019, it dropped from 0.83 to 0.61,
and then slowly and stabilized at this level. Fluctuations were found in the ecological
and environmental assimilative capacity. The pollution-accepting capacity, between
2017 and 2018, increased from 1.3 to 1.8, dropped to some 0.61 from 2018 to 2019,
and then rose to 1.35 by 2021. Judging from the economic growth in the area, these
indicators were constantly rising. It follows that given ensuring ecological security,
efforts should be doubled in studying the development of ecotourism in the Yellow
River Estuary under the guidance of sustainable development theory, thereby carrying
out tourism activities in phases and planned manner.
KEYWORDS
Yellow River estuary; Wetland; Ecological environment; Ecotourism; Tourism
environmental carrying capacity
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INDEX
ABSTRACT
KEYWORDS
1. INTRODUCTION
2. SWOT ANALYSIS OF ECOTOURISM IN THE YELLOW RIVER ESTUARY
2.1. Advantages
2.2. Disadvantages
2.3. Opportunities
2.4. Threats
3. EVALUATION MODEL OF ECOTOURISM ENVIRONMENTAL CARRYING
CAPACITY BASED ON THE SELF-PURIFICATION OF ECOSYSTEM
4. RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
4.1. Ecotourism economic development bearing status
4.2. Analysis of Ecological Pollution Absorption Capacity
5. DISCUSSION
6. CONCLUSION
REFERENCES
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1. INTRODUCTION
Wetlands, along with forests and oceans, are among the three major ecosystem
types in the world and are unique and most productive ecosystems on the Earth's
surface due to the interaction of land and water [1-2]. It is one of the most biodiverse
ecosystems in nature and one of the most important environments for human survival
[3-5]. It is known as the "cradle of life", "birthplace of civilization" and "gene pool of
species" [6-10], with ecological and social service functions such as water
conservation, climate regulation, environmental purification, provision of resources,
and leisure and tourism sites.
With the northward shift of China's economic development center of gravity, the
Bohai Rim region, with Binhai New Area and Caofeidian Industrial Zone as its core,
has rapidly emerged as a new "growth pole" for China's economy [11-13]. This
initiative has promoted the process of economic and tourism integration in the Bohai
Rim region, which has brought the Yellow River Estuary closer to other cities and
tourism areas in the Bohai Rim [14-15]. In the integrated development of tourism
around the Bohai Sea, the Yellow River estuary and the Beijing-Tianjin region form a
good complementary urban tourism, with good external conditions for rapid
development and its foundation, which can be built into an important segment of
tourism development in the Bohai Sea region [16-19].
In many places, tourism is no longer a "smoke-free industry". Destructive
construction and tourism development activities destroy the landscape environment
and biological habitats of tourism sites, making the conflict between humans and
nature more intense, endangering the survival of biological species and even the
safety of humans themselves [20-23]. In this situation, the protection of the natural
ecological environment got more attention to realize the harmony between humans
and nature, and ecotourism developed to protect the ecological environment is
naturally favored by more and more travelers [24-25]. With the increasing awareness
of environmental protection, wetland ecotourism has emerged as a "green tourism"
that "returns to nature" [26].
Foreign experts have conducted systematic studies on wetland tourism resources,
and experts focus on the development, utilization, and protection of wetland tourism
resources. In the literature [27], the hyperspectral data of Zhuhai-1 was used as the
research data. The wetland classification method for hyperspectral data was explored
using these experiments. The literature [28] identified the spatial-geographic scope
analyzed the cultural, sports, and tourism points of interest, and explored the spatial
distribution characteristics and changing trends of mixed resources in the Yellow River
Basin based on data analysis. This study also makes suggestions for the
development of cultural, sports, and tourism resources in the basin from different
perspectives based on the theoretical model of development, aiming to promote the
high-quality development of the region. The literature [29] addresses the strong
interest in these resources that have been generated over the past few years. Visitors
interested in them were found to gain knowledge, opportunities, experiences, and
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entertainment, while economic facilities (and the towns and regions in which they are
located) can shape the image and brand and enhance their reputation. These benefits
are important and are prerequisites to stimulate the development of these resources
and link them to the destination's strategic plan for sustainable development. The
literature [30] mainly studied the resources of the Yellow River estuary and Buzeen
wetlands and proposed effective ways of managing the sustainable development of
the resources. Through the management of tourist’ activities and ecotourism
awareness, the protection of wetland resources is enhanced, and the satisfaction of
tourists and residents is effectively improved. From the research content, most of the
studies focus on the development of wetland ecotourism resources and the planning
of wetland ecotourism products. In particular, the research focuses on the coastal type
and other lake and river-type wetland ecotourism sites, accounting for about 90% of
the total number of studies. In terms of research methods, most of them adopt
qualitative methods, lacking the support and depth of quantitative data, thus
increasing the probability of the influence of human judgment factors. The study area
is also mainly for different types of wetland ecotourism sites and mostly for wetland
nature reserves. The Yellow River Delta is the last large river delta to be developed
among the three major deltas in China, with obvious resource and location
advantages and promising development prospects. Based on the study of the natural
landscape pattern, the characteristics of the ecological resources and their tourism
development potential should be analyzed to find out the effective ways and means
suitable for the development of ecological tourism. The literature [31] takes the
conservation and utilization of ecotourism as the development prospect. For the
unstable structure and fragile ecological function, ecological restoration should be
carried out according to local conditions to ensure water recharge and protect the
native vegetation. It also carries out artificially assisted breeding and renewal,
introduces and selects salt-tolerant plants, increases vegetation species, and
improves vegetation coverage. The above literature shows that in accelerating the
ecological tourism development of the Yellow River estuary, tourism resources are of
great strategic importance in promoting economic and cultural construction and the
coordinated development of the regional economy. The above research results fully
recognize the special characteristics of ecological tourism development and focus on
the goal of building an efficient ecological economic demonstration zone, developing
protection and protection in development, and promoting the coordinated
development of the regional economy and society.
The Yellow River estuary is the main body to promote regional economic
development, location conditions, rich natural resources, and broad development
prospects, the development of the Yellow River estuary ecotourism has important and
far-reaching significance to the development of the entire province and city. To
achieve good social and environmental benefits while better promoting the economic
development of tourism, this paper conducts a SWOT analysis of ecotourism in the
Yellow River estuary by assessing the environmental carrying capacity of the estuary.
The advantages and disadvantages of ecotourism resources in the Yellow River
estuary were obtained. The evaluation model of ecotourism environmental carrying
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capacity is established based on the self-purification capacity of the ecological
environment system.
2.
SWOT ANALYSIS OF ECOTOURISM IN THE YELLOW
RIVER ESTUARY
Huanghekou eco-tourism has many advantages and opportunities. The unique
wetland ecotourism resources, convenient location, high-quality ecological
environment, strong government support, the strategic opportunity of "Shandong on
land and Shandong on the sea" and ecotourism gradually become the main direction
of tourism consumption. SWOT analysis can make a study of the scenario in which
the research object is located. Therefore, it has certain applicability to the ecotourism
of the Yellow River Estuary. The SWOT matrix analyzes the situation of ecotourism
from four aspects: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, as shown in
Figure 1. The analysis shows that the Yellow River estuary wetland ecotourism
development has both advantages and disadvantages, and opportunities and
challenges coexist. To make full use of these advantages and opportunities, to
overcome the shortcomings and disadvantages, to meet the challenges, to create
tourism products with characteristics, to establish their brand, and to improve the core
competitiveness of the scenic area.
Figure 1. SWOT matrix analysis
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2.1. ADVANTAGES
Unique tourism resources. Located at the mouth, the Yellow River Estuary
Ecotourism Area is the most typical coastal estuarine wetland and the most important
migratory bird habitat in China, with well-preserved natural resources, providing a
good resource base for developing true ecotourism. The Yellow River estuary is also
the second largest oil industry base in China, with the estuary's pristine landscape
forming a strong contrast to the modern oil fields, giving a visual impact. Such tourism
resource characteristics and resource combination forms can be considered national
or even world-class for scientific examination, science education, tourism, and leisure
vacation [32-34].
Superior market location. Huanghekou is in the center of China's Bohai Sea
economic belt and the Yellow River economic belt, and the Liaodong Peninsula across
the sea is the Jiaodong Peninsula north to Beijing, Tianjin, and Tang, the development
of the hinterland including North China, Northeast China, the lower and middle
Yangtze River provinces, the Pearl River Delta and the central and western regions.
Good transportation conditions. Based on the Shengli oilfield, the transportation
infrastructure is good, and there are convenient transportation conditions between
Huanghekou and domestic and foreign countries. At present, Huanghekou has
convenient highway and railroad traffic access to all major cities in China, which is
greatly improved. Small and medium-sized aircraft can land on the airport runway, so
the Yellow River estuary has a multifunctional transportation network of roads,
railroads, waterways, and airways [35-37].
Social environment advantage. The development of tourism as a breakthrough to
promote local economic development, increased tourism development, and the
formulation of relevant preferential policies, the development of tourism has become a
social consensus.
2.2. DISADVANTAGES
Low degree of market development. The degree of development of the source
market is low, the attractiveness to tourists is not enough, and the market-oriented
operation method is not very mature.
Insufficient construction of tourism services. Modern tourism competition includes
the promotion service to the source of tourists, tourism in the food, accommodation,
travel, and other services to product after-sales service and other tourism service
competition. Good tourism services need modern tourism service reception facilities
but also need a high level and high quality of professional service management
personnel, the Yellow River mouth is currently facing a shortage of talent problem.
Tourism resources single, and product development is insufficient. Huanghekou
tourism resources, although unique, the current lack of boutiques and highlights, and
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landscape quality seasonal differences are great, tourism off-peak season
contradiction is prominent. Tourism product development is less and lack of boutique
and personalized tourism products.
Insufficient human resources. The competition of the modern tourism industry with
business training and human resources with higher education in tourism is an
important element of competition and an important factor in the soft environment of
tourism development, and Huanghekou is insufficient in this regard.
2.3. OPPORTUNITIES
The development of eco-tourism in China. The booming tourism industry provides a
good opportunity for the development of the Yellow River Estuary. With modernization
and economic and social development, tourism is gradually shifting to "green"
ecotourism. The Yellow River Estuary is a real and original ecotourism area, which will
be favored by domestic and foreign tourists.
The Yellow River estuary is the focus of tourism development. The Yellow River
estuary occupies tourism resources including the natural landscape with the ecology
of the Yellow River estuary wetlands, the modern industrial landscape with oil as the
main theme, and the ancient Qi culture as the theme of historical and humanistic
tourism resources in two of the three pieces, and want to make the Yellow River
estuary to become the city's tourism development to drive the "frontrunner".
The development strategy of "Shandong on Land and Shandong on Sea" provides
an opportunity for the development of tourism. To revitalize the development of
tourism, the strategy of "Shandong on Land and Shandong on Sea" is proposed, and
the Yellow River estuary is the center of gravity of "Shandong on Land" and Bohai Bay
is the center of gravity of "Shandong on Sea". The Yellow River estuary is a
combination of "Shandong on land and Shandong on the sea". This development
strategy provides a good opportunity for the development of eco-tourism in
Huanghekou.
2.4. THREATS
Increasing competition in the tourism source market. According to statistics, 24 out
of 31 Chinese provinces and cities have made tourism a key development industry.
The proximity of Huanghekou to the Dalian seaside and Qingdao seaside, and the
many famous domestic attractions around, have affected the number of tourists
visiting Huanghekou to some extent. However, if Huanghekou can be successful in
tourism image planning, tourism product development, and tourism product
promotion, borrowing the surrounding area tourist attractions will play a role in the
formation and development of the Huanghekou source market.
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Yellow River estuary's ecological environment is more sensitive and fragile, in the
development of the slightest carelessness, it will cause the reverse environmental
succession, directly affecting the quality and benefits of ecotourism. The breakage of
the Yellow River, ice ribs, and storm surge hazards are all due to ecotourism and
wetland ecosystem threats.
3. EVALUATION MODEL OF ECOTOURISM
ENVIRONMENTAL CARRYING CAPACITY BASED ON
THE SELF-PURIFICATION OF ECOSYSTEM
The ecotourism environment carrying capacity refers to the tourism intensity that
the natural ecological environment of the tourism area can withstand without
degradation within a certain period. Research shows that the ecological environment
system itself has a certain regeneration capacity. The purpose of determining the
environmental carrying capacity of ecotourism is to control the impact of tourism on
the environment within the range of environmental regeneration capacity, that is, the
environmental impact caused by tourism activities (such as the adverse impact of
tourism activities on vegetation) shall not break through the regeneration capacity. At
the same time, the self-cleaning capacity of the natural environment can completely
absorb and purify the pollutants produced by tourists (e.g., pollution of the water
bodies of tourist sites by tourism activities); around these two requirements, a series
of assessment models for the carrying capacity of the tourism environment are
established.
This type of model assumes that the environmental impacts caused by tourism
activities can be controlled to a reasonable extent through strict management, and
thus the ecological carrying capacity of the tourism environment depends on the
ability of the natural ecosystem to purify and absorb tourism pollutants and the
amount of pollutants produced by tourists per unit of time. Based on this assumption,
some researchers have established the formula for measuring the carrying capacity of
the tourism environment:
(1)
Where:
is the ecological environment carrying capacity, take the minimum
value of the three components , , .
is the water environment
carrying capacity (with the water surface as the main tourist resource, take = sewage
port treatment capacity / per capita sewage generation, not with the water surface as
a tourist attraction or does not constitute the main environmental factors, then take
infinity).
is the atmospheric carrying capacity (for tourism activities that do not
generate atmospheric pollution, infinity is desirable. (When atmospheric pollution is
generated,
A = regional atmospheric environmental capacity / per capita
exhaust gas generation).
is the carrying capacity of solid waste generation
( = daily solid waste capacity / average daily solid waste generation per person).
EEBC = win(WEC,AEC,SEC )
EEBC
WEC
AEC
SEC
WEC
AEC
AEC
SEC
SEC
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Based on this concept, a more intuitive measurement model was developed as shown
in Equation 2.
(2)
Where: is the ecological carrying capacity (daily carrying capacity), expressed
as the maximum allowable amount of tourists received per day, is the amount of
pollutant produced by each tourist per day, is the amount of the th pollutant
purified and absorbed by the natural ecological environment, is the self-purification
time of various pollutants, is the number of tourism pollutant types. Considering that
tourist attractions generally treat pollutants artificially, thus expanding the pollution
absorption capacity of the natural environment. The above formula is amended to
formula 3:
(3)
Where is the extended ecological capacity; is the amount of pollutant that is
treated manually each day.
4. RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
4.1. ECOTOURISM ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BEARING
STATUS
From 2017 to 2021 human socio-economic development is over-carrying, and its
pressure mainly shows a trend of gradual increase and stabilization. The carrying
capacity value of human socio-economic development calculated by the evaluation
model of ecotourism environment carrying capacity, decreases from 0.83 to 0.61 from
2017 to 2019 and then shows a trend of slow stabilization at this level. It can be seen
that the pressure of human socio-economic development on regional resources and
ecological environment still exists and is likely to persist for a long time, although the
rate is slowing down, the trend has not changed. To further analyze the pressure
brought by human socio-economic development to the Yellow River estuary region,
this paper analyzes the pollution elements according to the results of the evaluation
model assigned to the ecotourism environmental carrying capacity of the ecological
system self-cleaning, and the population, socio-economic and ecological environment
in the category layer human socio-economic development as shown in Figure 2.
F
0=
n
∑
i=1
SiTi/
n
∑
i=1
P
i
F0
Pi
i
Si
i
Ti
n
F
=
(n
∑
i=1
SiTi+
n
∑
i=1
Qi
)
/
n
∑
i=1
P
i
F
Qi
i
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Figure 2. Changes in population, socio-economic, and ecological pollution
As can be seen from Figure 2, the three elements of population, social economy,
and ecological environment pollution are in the overload state, and ecological
environment pollution has been the dominant element of overload from 2017 to 2021,
followed by economic development. The ecological and environmental carrying
capacity has been at a low level between 0.25 and 0.35 since 2018, with the lowest
value reaching 0.26. The indicators in the factor layer include population size, marine
industry output value, wastewater discharge, mariculture area, and red tide
occurrence area. With the rapid economic development, the average annual growth
rate of the total industrial output value from 2017 to 2021 is 28.7%, which is higher
than the national average of 12.1% during the 15th Five-Year Plan. The rapid
development of population and rough industries inevitably brings a large increase of
pollutants such as wastewater, COD, and ammonia nitrogen, leading to the
deterioration of marine ecology and the expansion of the area where red tide occurs,
etc. From the current economic development of the Yellow River Estuary region these
indicators are expanding, and at the same time, with the Binhai New Area and the
Yellow River Delta Efficient Ecological Zone rising as national strategies, this growth
trend will be inevitable in a longer period, and at the same time, it will bring great
challenges to the ecological and environmental carrying capacity of the Yellow River
estuary.
4.2.
ANALYSIS OF ECOLOGICAL POLLUTION ABSORPTION
CAPACITY
The ecological and environmental pollution carrying capacity of the Yellow River
estuary region shows a fluctuating trend, from 2017 to 2018, the ecological and
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environmental pollution carrying capacity value increased from 1.3 to 1.8, decreased
to about 0.61 in 2018-2019, and increased to 1.35 in 2021. the overall condition of the
ecological and environmental pollution carrying capacity is good, and most of the time
is within the bearable range. This is mainly because the carrying capacity of marine
resources, ecology, and environment includes two aspects. On the one hand, is the
ecological environment, and on the other hand is the human social support. Human
social support plays a negative role in the economic development of human society,
so it is considered in the overall pollution-carrying capacity. Human social support
plays a leading role in the process of resource, ecological, and environmental carrying
capacity of the Yellow River estuary. For further analysis, see Figure 3 for changes in
ecological and environmental pollution carrying capacity of the Yellow River estuary
region. From Figure 3, the carrying capacity of ecology and environmental pollution
carrying capacity is mainly considered in three aspects, which are environmental
pollution carrying capacity, ecological and environmental quality, and human society's
support.
Figure 3. Changes in marine ecology and environmental pollution carrying capacity
The environmental pollution carrying capacity is over-carrying, showing a trend of
first weakness and then strength. The main indicators considered for the
environmental pollution carrying capacity are the environmental capacity of ammonia
nitrogen and active phosphate. The upward trend is mainly due to the increase in
wastewater and pollutant discharge compliance rates. In recent years, the investment
in environmental protection infrastructure has been increased around the world, which
has controlled the amount of wastewater and pollutants entering the sea at source,
thus making the environmental pollution capacity of the Yellow River estuary
effectively controlled. The ecological environment quality mainly includes two
indicators: the ecosystem service function and the density of phytoplankton. From
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Figure 3, we can see that the ecological environment quality is very volatile, and the
carrying status fluctuates above and below the carrying capacity critical value, which
is in a more dangerous alert state. The ecological environment quality is the only
element in the critical and bearable state of carrying capacity, and the ecological
environment quality reflects the integrity and health of the ecosystem. The health of
the ecosystem is directly related to the strength of marine resources and ecological
environment carrying capacity. If we do not pay attention to it, it will easily lead to the
overload condition of the region as a whole. Therefore, the health of marine
ecosystems should be closely monitored. The carrying status of human support
elements is in an overload state. From this, we can see that human support still has
great potential. For example, we can increase the investment in environmental
protection and improve the rate of sewage treatment. By improving the level of
scientific research and innovating science and technology, it will play a useful role in
improving the carrying capacity of the resources, ecology, and environment.
The analysis of the results of resource, ecological, and environmental carrying
capacity shows that the Yellow River Estuary is generally in a bearable condition for
resources and ecological environment from 2017 to 2021. However, the overall
carrying level is low and at the edge of a near-critical carrying state, which needs to
be paid high attention. The Yellow River estuary region is currently carrying very
limited remaining space, the region's population, rapid socio-economic development,
and excessive exploitation of the resources, are super-bearing. This has brought
tremendous pressure to the resources and ecological environment. At present, if the
ecological environment did not have a strong pollution-absorbing capacity, the Yellow
River estuary region as a whole would be over-carrying. The quality of the marine
ecosystem plays a leading role in the pollution-carrying capacity of the Yellow River
estuary ecosystem. Thus, it can be seen that the health of the ecosystem can
effectively improve the overall carrying level of resources, ecology, and environment.
5. DISCUSSION
To better develop the ecological tourism environment, can be satisfied by providing
tourists with a good tourism environment and ecological knowledge education. At the
same time, it constrains the behavior of tourists, requiring them to make their
contribution to nature conservation while enjoying nature and receiving nature
knowledge education. Ecotourism is inevitably the best way to combine people and
nature and thus becomes the highlight of tourism. On the one hand, caring about
getting the best level of satisfaction. On the other hand, people have increased their
sense of responsibility for the environment of human development, and have begun to
pay attention to how to make the best use of existing resources to meet the needs of
the present while considering how to keep the resources that will meet their needs for
future generations unimpaired and undamaged. As a kind of tourism with a sense of
responsibility that has a special feeling for ecology and culture, this sense of
responsibility of ecotourism is a strong guarantee for its development.
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6. CONCLUSION
Based on the results of the SWOT analysis of ecotourism, this paper assesses the
current situation of the environmental carrying capacity of ecotourism by using the
evaluation model of ecotourism environmental carrying capacity of ecological
environmental system self-cleaning. Summarizing the whole paper, the following main
research conclusions are drawn.
1. From the ecotourism economic development bearing status, human socio-
economic development is in over-bearing status in 2017~2021. 2017~2019
decreases from 0.83 to 0.61, and then shows a trend of slow stabilization at
this level. According to the ecological environment and socio-economic
development, the development of ecotourism should be researched, which
must be guided by the theory of sustainable development and carry out tourism
activities in a systematic and planned manner under the premise of ensuring
ecological safety.
2.
The three elements of population, social economy, and ecological and
environmental pollution are in the overload state, and ecological and
environmental pollution has been the dominant element of overload from 2017
to 2021, followed by economic development. The ecological and environmental
carrying capacity has been at a low level between 0.25 and 0.35 since 2018,
with the lowest value reaching 0.26.
3.
The ecological and environmental pollution-carrying capacity of the Yellow
River estuary region shows a fluctuating trend, with the ecological and
environmental pollution-carrying capacity value rising from 1.3 to 1.8 from 2017
to 2018, decreasing to about 0.61 from 2018 to 2019, and rising to 1.35 by
2021. Therefore, the management of ecotourism in the Yellow River estuary
should be strengthened, mainly to maintain ecological balance, control
ecological deterioration, environmental pollution, and artificial destruction of
wetland landscape, and protect biodiversity. We establish scientific, perfect,
reasonable, and effective management standards and measures in
management, restrain and control relevant stakeholders, strengthen
communication with local community residents, coordinate the interests
between residents and ecotourism development, and promote the promotion of
healthy and harmonious development of local tourism.
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