Red tourism is a distinctive form of cultural tourism in China, centered on revolutionary heritage and national memory. However, existing studies have often focused on individual sites or administrative units, lacking systematic evaluations at a broader regional scale and overlooking the combined effects of multiple influencing factors. To address these gaps, this study takes the Central Plains region as a case study and evaluates the development level of 317 red tourism scenic areas. A five-dimensional evaluation framework was constructed, incorporating basic support, resource support, regional support, government support, and new media support. Spatial classification, spatial clustering, and spatial association methods were employed to analyze spatial differentiation patterns and development characteristics. The results show that development levels vary significantly across sites, forming a stratified distribution pattern. High-level scenic areas are relatively evenly distributed, while medium- and higher-level scenic areas cluster in the central and northern parts of the region, and lower-level sites are concentrated in Zhengzhou, Xinyang, Liaocheng, and Changzhi. The overall distribution follows a core–cluster structure, with high-value hotspots in Kaifeng and cold spots in Xinxian and northeastern Luoyang. Further analysis indicates that resource endowment and effective development are the fundamental drivers of red tourism growth, while location, infrastructure, government support, and media promotion play important supporting roles. This study expands the evaluation perspective of red tourism by adopting a township-scale analysis and provides new insights for regional tourism planning, heritage protection, and the sustainable development of red tourism resources.
Mao et al. (Mon,) studied this question.