A GIS Approach to Estimating Tourists' Off-road Use in a Mountainous Protected Area of Northwest Yunnan, China

A novel GIS-based approach predicts tourist off-road use patterns in the UNESCO-listed Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas, offering park managers critical insights for balancing tourism and conservation. By integrating Naismith's rule with anisotropic cost analysis, researchers derived a more accurate measure of accessibility than traditional methods, revealing spatial hotspots where unregulated off-road activity may threaten species conservation. This study demonstrates how quantitative modeling can address gaps in standard monitoring techniques, providing actionable data for sustainable tourism strategies in mountainous protected areas.

Yang, M., van Coillie, F., Liu, M., de Wulf, R., Hens, L., & Ou, X. (2014). A GIS Approach to Estimating Tourists’ Off-road Use in a Mountainous Protected Area of Northwest Yunnan, China. Mountain Research and Development, 34(2), 107–117. https://doi.org/10.1659/mrd-journal-d-13-00041.1