Visitor crowding at World Heritage Sites based on tourist spatial-temporal distribution: a case study of the Master-of-Nets Garden, China

Visitor crowding issues caused by over-tourism at World Heritage Sites (WHS) are increasingly prominent. However, related studies and management give less consideration to the uneven tourist spatial-temporal distribution within micro-attractions, ignoring the detrimental impacts of local crowding on WHS’ sustainable development. Aimed at exploring local crowding within heritage attractions from a perspective of time-space, this study used video-based computer vision technology to analyze tourist spatial-temporal distribution, density, and carrying capacity at stationary points (spatial locations where visitors stay and gather), taking a case study of the Master-of-Nets Garden, a World Cultural Heritage Site. The results indicated that although the total visitor number was below the attraction’s carrying capacity, visitors repeatedly and quickly crowded at stationary points and formed high-density clusters, exceeding stationary points’ space capacity and causing spatial local crowding. When visitors’ dwell time was 5, 12, and 20 seconds, the crowding index K of stationary points was 3.4∼108.5, 1.7∼42.9, and 0.5∼33, indicating the spatial local crowding effect was negatively correlated with the length of visitors’ dwell time at stationary points. Our contribution provides an accurate understanding of local crowding in WHS by highlighting the impact of tourist spatial-temporal distribution on carrying capacity and spatial crowding and suggests visitor management recommendations.