Page 135 - EER-2-2

Explora: Environment
and Resource Tourism resources of Xinjiang

regional tourism destinations with these features, the mountains and half in the basins (Figure 1). Historical
such as rivers, roads, and the heatwave index, was also sites and architectures make up the largest portion,
mapped. accounting for about 47%, while geomorphological
The tourism revenue, including domestic and landscapes, water sceneries, and biological landscapes
international tourism revenue, from 1990 to 2023 in the comprise 45% of the whole. The tourism destinations
region was analyzed. To compare the relative changes in are mainly concentrated along the Altay Mountains,
domestic and international tourism revenue, the ratio the Urumqi-Turpan-Hami line, the Ili region, and the
of domestic to the total domestic and international Aksu-Kashgar-Hotan line, with a decreasing density
tourism revenue was used as an indicator for the analysis of destinations as the distance from the transportation
(Equation I). Tourism revenue in Xinjiang, as recorded network increases. Overall, the tourism economy in
on the website of the Statistic Bureau of Xinjiang Uygur Xinjiang exhibits a high degree of spatial polarization,
14
Autonomous Region (https://tjj.xinjiang.gov.cn/) and in with strong heterogeneity and significant differences.
the regional yearbooks, includes domestic tourism income Tourism development outside the hotspot regions is very
in Renminbi (RMB) yuan and international tourism delayed, especially in southern Xinjiang. 4
income in United States (US) dollars. For comparison, Until the end of 2024, Xinjiang has 18 5A-level tourism
the US dollar was converted to RMB yuan based on the attractions (according to the website of the Ministry of
exchange rate of 1 US dollar = 6.8 RMB yuan. Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China,
domestictourismrevenue www.mct.gov.cn), including Tianchi, Grape Valley, Kanas,
Ratio = × 100% and Old Town of Kashgar. These regions are rich in tourism

demestic + international tourismrevenue
(I) resources; however, their development is insufficient,
and the infrastructure and service facilities do not meet
3. Results and discussion the required standards in later stages of development
5
and maintenance. In the Tianchi Lake region, residents
3.1. Tourism resources in Xinjiang have a high participation rate in tourism, but the level of
involvement and capacity are relatively low, implying that
3.1.1. Geographical locations of tourism destinations they have relatively low income from tourism activities.
16
According to the database, Xinjiang has about 500 clearly Some tourism attractions or routes still face irregular
12
defined tourism destinations, with roughly half located in market behaviors. For instance, in the Turpan Grape Valley,

15
Figure 1. The distribution of the tourism destinations in Xinjiang, China. The background is the eco-division of Xinjiang : Altay Mountains, Mountains in
West Jungar Basin, Tianshan Mountains, Kunlun Mountains, Jungar Basin, Turpan-Hami Basin, and Tarim Basin. The background also shows the nature
reserves in Xinjiang.

Volume 2 Issue 2 (2025) 3 doi: 10.36922/EER025060010