Coupling coordination degree and obstacle factors between the tourism industry and ecological environment in the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal Basin, China

How to coordinate the tourism industry with the ecological environment has become an important issue. However, there is a lack of attention to special ecological function areas, such as the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal Basin. This study evaluated the degree of coupling coordination and distinguished obstacle factors between two systems, the tourism industry and the ecological environment in the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal Basin from 2008 to 2017. The development level index of the tourism industry showed “sustained growth-slight decline-rapid growth.” Jiangsu showed the highest annual growth rate (17.26%) for the development level index of the ecological environment. The comprehensive evaluation index changed in stages, showing a trend of large overall growth and small partial decline. The coupling coordination degree improved rapidly on the whole, developing from close to incoordination in 2008 to good coordination and quality coordination in 2017. In most cases, the provinces demonstrated the ecological lag type during this period. The greatest increase in obstacle degree was in the ecological environment pressure in the control layer. Generally, the main obstacles hindering the coupled and coordinated development of these two systems were the volume of household garbage clearance, wastewater emissions, A-level scenic spots, total consumption of domestic tourists and the number of inbound tourists. This study clearly reveals the evolution, degree and types of coupling coordination in the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal Basin of the two systems, which contributes to healthy basin development.