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ISSN: 3072-1962
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Evaluation of Rural Health Tourism Suitability
Based on the MaxEnt Model: A Case Study
of the Panxi Area in Southwestern China
1
School of Economics, Sichuan University of Science & Engineering, Zigong 643000, PR China
2
People’s Government of Zizhong County, Neijiang City, Sichuan Province, China
3
Industrial Transformation and Innovation Research Center, School of Economics, Sichuan University
of Science & Engineering, Zigong 643000, PR China
4
Research Center of Agricultural Economy, School of Economics, Sichuan University
of Science & Engineering, Zigong 643000, PR China
Submission date: 2026-03-13
Final revision date: 2026-06-18
Acceptance date: 2026-07-06
Online publication date: 2026-08-10
Corresponding author
Yanhong Wang
Research Center of Agricultural Economy, School of Economics, Sichuan University of Science & Engineering, Zigong 643000, China
Research Center of Agricultural Economy, School of Economics, Sichuan University of Science & Engineering, Zigong 643000, China
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
In ecologically fragile and ethnic minority regions, pursuing place-based development models
through rural health tourism is instrumental to realizing regional sustainable development.
We assessed the suitability of rural health tourism in the Panxi Region for 2023 using the MaxEnt model
and further clarified the influencing trends of each environmental factor based on response curves.
The main findings are as follows: (1) Rural health tourism suitability in the Panxi Region displays
obvious spatial heterogeneity. Areas with high and moderate suitability are distributed predominantly
in regions with abundant resource endowments, especially along major river systems. The majority
of the study area is non-suitable or marginally suitable, which is mainly constrained by ecological
sensitivity and local economic development levels. (2) All environmental factors present differentiated
nonlinear response patterns. Population density is positively associated with suitability probability,
whereas longer travel time to medical facilities is negatively associated with suitability probability, while
slope and distance to roads show negative correlations. The response to average annual precipitation
varies dynamically across distinct threshold ranges. Drawing on the above results, we suggest exploring
differentiated rural health tourism development models, improving rural public service facilities,
and enhancing cross-county resource linkages and benefit-sharing mechanisms, thereby fully unleashing
the role of rural health tourism in advancing inclusive and sustainable development in ecologically
fragile and ethnic minority regions.
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| ISSN: | 3072-1962 |
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