Intensity of Tourism Economic Linkages in Chinese Land Border Cities and Network Characterization

The purpose of this study is to analyze the characteristics of tourism economic links and networks within the tourism sector of China’s land border cities. It seeks to reveal the spatial and temporal evolution of tourism economic links in order to facilitate regional coordination among border cities. The article adopts the modified gravity model to measure the degree of tourism economic linkage of China’s land border cities, and utilizes UCINET 6.0 software, based on social network theory, to analyze the characteristics of the tourism economic linkage network of China’s land border. The findings show that the overall network density of China’s land border tourism economic linkages is relatively low, with uneven development in the “three borders” tourism economic linkages. There is a significant core–periphery structure, with the core area gradually expanding to the northwest and southwest, and geographically neighboring border cities are more likely to form a subgroup. The analysis of the socio-spatial network relationship of China’s land border cities yields suggestions for coordinated regional development, providing a foundation for the sustainable development of land border tourism.