Famous historical and cultural cities in Shandong and related high-quality tourist attractions.

Famous historical and cultural cities in Shandong and related high-quality tourist attractions.</p

Results of nearest distance analysis.

Optimizing the spatial layout of high-quality tourist attractions is of great significance in the sustainable development of the tourism industry. This work employs the ArcGIS spatial analysis tool to study the form, equality, and density of the spatial distribution of the 892 3A+ tourist attractions (high-quality tourist attractions hereafter) in Shandong Province, China. It also examines the factors influencing the spatial distribution of tourist attractions from the perspectives of geographic features and landscapes, culture and heritage, socioeconomic development, and transportation. We therefore find the following: 1) High-quality tourist attractions in Shandong Province have obvious clustering in spatial distribution with the high-density areas mainly concentrated in Qingdao, Jining, Jinan, Tai’an and other cities. Influenced by resource endowment and economic development, the two major geographical areas in Central Shandong and Jiaodong Peninsula have the most concentrated distribution of high-quality tourist attractions. 2) The distribution of high-quality tourist attractions shows a southwest‒northeast clustering direction; Qingdao is a high-high clustering area, and Heze is a low-high clustering area with low uniformity of spatial distribution and obvious spatial divergence. 3) Tourist attractions show an obvious "N" type high-density distribution belt and nuclear density distribution across the three existing agglomeration centers in the Jining–Tai’an intersection, Binzhou–Dongying intersection, and Qingdao Jiaozhou Bay coast. 4) Topography, climate conditions, history and culture are intrinsic factors affecting the spatial distribution of tourist attractions, while socioeconomic and transportation conditions are external requirements for the development thereof; collectively, they constrain the spatial distribution of high-quality tourist attractions.</div

The numbers and types of tourist attractions in 16 cities in Shandong Province.

The numbers and types of tourist attractions in 16 cities in Shandong Province.</p

Number of high-quality tourist attractions and GDP of prefecture-level cities in Shandong.

Number of high-quality tourist attractions and GDP of prefecture-level cities in Shandong.</p

Spatial distribution of the local Moran index of high-quality tourist attractions in Shandong Province.

Spatial distribution of the local Moran index of high-quality tourist attractions in Shandong Province.</p

List of 892 high-quality tourist attractions in Shandong Province.

List of 892 high-quality tourist attractions in Shandong Province.</p

Spatial distribution of high-quality tourist attractions in Shandong Province.

Spatial distribution of high-quality tourist attractions in Shandong Province.</p

Coupling the standard deviation ellipse and topography in high-quality scenic areas.

Coupling the standard deviation ellipse and topography in high-quality scenic areas.</p

Major transportation routes and 4A+ tourist attractions in Shandong.

Major transportation routes and 4A+ tourist attractions in Shandong.</p

Shandong Province’s summer climate comfort rating in 2020.

Shandong Province’s summer climate comfort rating in 2020.</p