Digital transformation in the cultural and tourism industry is of great significance for driving the growth of a modern industrial system, accelerating the construction of a new development pattern, and achieving high-quality economic development. Considering the conceptual connotation and essential characteristics of digital transformation in the cultural and tourism industry, in this article, the internal logic of digital transformation in the cultural and tourism industry is analyzed. It clarifies that the essential characteristics of digital transformation in the cultural and tourism industry are reflected in the innovative development of cultural and tourism resources driven by data elements, the immersive innovation of digital technologies embedded in cultural and tourism products, and the intelligent construction of cultural and tourism formats supported by digital platforms. The historical logic of digital transformation in the cultural and tourism industry is outlined in the evolution from the nascent to development to the acceleration stages. Based on the technology-organization-environment (TOE) theoretical framework of “digital technologies as the foundation, industrial organization as the main body, and development environment as the guarantee,” the theoretical logic of digital transformation in the cultural and tourism industry is clarified. Further, the comprehensive promotion of the Chinese path to modernization highlights the advantages of digital economy development, and the growing need for a better life demonstrates the practical logic of digital transformation in the cultural and tourism industry. Finally, through theoretical thinking and path references, the article proposes directions for accelerating digital transformation in the cultural and tourism industry through enhancing the fundamental role of digital technologies, strengthening the main role of industrial organizations, and optimizing the guarantee role of the development environment.

Tourism area life cycle theory plays an important role in promoting high-quality development of tourist destinations of different types and in different stages of development. This study focused on the research results of the life cycle theory of tourism destinations at home and abroad. Using CiteSpace software, 699 relevant Chinese and English articles were retrieved, collected, and screened from CNKI and Web of Science databases for visual analysis, and the existing research results were systematically reviewed. The analysis revealed the following: (1) A large difference was observed in the number of papers published in Chinese and English. Unlike the general trend of a decrease in China, international research on the life cycle theory of tourist destinations has been peaking since the beginning of the 21st century, with an unprecedented high attained in 2022. Internationally, scholars from China, Spain, and Italy have published the maximum number of articles in English. (2) Huge differences were found in terms of research hotspots at home and abroad. Domestic research focuses on concept clarification, influencing factors, stage determination, tourism development, and operation strategy exploration, while international studies pay more attention to the regeneration and transformation of tourism destinations, sustainable development with ecological protection as the core, and new tourism business formats. (3) International studies are relatively diversified in terms of subjects, research methods, and disciplinary perspectives. Finally, combining classical views and the characteristics of current tourism research, future research directions of tourism destination life cycle theory are proposed.

The digital economy has played a pivotal role in driving China’s industrial transformation, upgrading, and high-quality development. Adopting both supply- and demand-side perspectives, this study employs innovation capability and market demand as mediating variables and utilizes panel data from 31 Chinese provinces and municipalities to empirically analyze the impact and mechanisms through which the digital economy influences the integrated development of cultural and tourism industries. The findings indicate the following: (1) The digital economy significantly promotes the integrated development of cultural and tourism industries. (2) Regional variations exist in the digital economy’s promotional effect on cultural and tourism integration. The Western region demonstrated the most significant promotional effect, followed by the Eastern region, whereas the effects in the Central and Northeastern regions remained statistically insignificant. (3) A mediating transmission pathway exists: digital economy → innovation capability or market demand → integrated development of cultural and tourism industries. Based on these findings, this study proposes the following policy recommendations: (a) Strengthen the construction and application of digital infrastructure within the cultural and tourism sectors. (b) Emphasize the role of digital marketing in stimulating consumer demand. (c) Encourage and support digital innovation to facilitate the development of innovative cultural and tourism products. (d) Accounting for regional variations in the digital economy’s impact on cultural and tourism integration. This study elucidates the role and mechanisms through which the digital economy promotes the integrated development of the cultural and tourism industries, thereby contributing to a fuller realization of digital economy dividends in this sector.

With the rise in nostalgia-oriented consumption, rural homestays have become typical venues for experiencing rural life-emotional spaces where visitors retreat from urban bustle and seek psychological comfort. Against this backdrop, this study takes nostalgia-themed rural homestays as the research context and rigorously follows standardized procedures of scale development to construct and validate a measurement instrument for tourists’ nostalgic emotions. Study 1, grounded in a literature review and in-depth interviews, inductively and deductively clarified the connotation of nostalgic emotions and developed an initial pool of measurement items. Study 2 empirically explored and verified the scale’s dimensional structure through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Study 3 incorporated perceived authenticity and behavioral intention variables into a structural equation model, providing evidence of the scale’s satisfactory criterion-related validity. Through these three sequential studies, a four-dimensional, sixteen-item nostalgia emotion scale-comprising interpersonal nostalgia, personal nostalgia, imagery nostalgia, and historical nostalgia-was developed and validated empirically. This study contributes an objective and standardized tool for assessing nostalgic emotions among rural homestay tourists and offers practical implications for the development and marketing of nostalgia-themed rural accommodations.

Enhancing tourism destination residents’ well-being is an important objective of tourism development and has become a significant topic in domestic and international tourism research in recent years. Building upon a conceptual analysis distinguishing happiness, quality of life, and well-being, this study employed the CiteSpace software to conduct a visualization analysis of 197 relevant articles on tourism destination resident well-being retrieved and screened from the CNKI and Web of Science Core Collection databases. The findings reveal that: (1) Tourism destination resident well-being, approached from both subjective and objective perspectives, has at its core two key variables-happiness and quality of life-and, through constructing a theoretical framework that encompasses both the individual domain and the social system, comprehensively measures people’s living conditions, thereby facilitating the realization of people’s aspirations for a better life; (2) The research trajectory of tourism destination resident well-being can be divided into three phases: initial emergence, progressive development, and rapid growth; (3) Existing research themes primarily focus on four aspects: measurement and evaluation indicator construction for tourism destination resident well-being, influencing factors of tourism destination resident well-being, the relationship between tourism development and resident well-being, and heterogeneity studies of tourism destination resident well-being. Currently, the research focus in this field has gradually shifted from the unidirectional relationships between tourism development and resident well-being to exploring their bidirectional interactive relationships. Future research should deepen research approaches by combining qualitative and quantitative methods, incorporate dynamic analysis, emphasize the multiple interactions between human and non-human factors in resident well-being, expand and refine research scenarios in the Chinese context, and elaborate research content, thereby providing support for further refinement of the theoretical framework for tourism destination resident well-being research.

The integration of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) and tourism is the main driving force for high-quality tourism development. In view of the problems of unreasonable benefit distribution and low participation of ICH inheritors in the benefit maximization of ICH tourism, which restrict the integrated development and value co-creation, this study constructs an evolutionary game model of value co-creation between tourism enterprises and ICH inheritors and discusses the factors influencing value co-creation behavior. The study introduces cost-sharing and reward-and-punishment mechanisms to coordinate the value co-creation behavior of the two parties, which has important guiding significance for promoting high-quality tourism development in China. This study found that (1) value co-creation of ICH tourism integration is influenced by synergistic benefits, and the proportionate distribution, integration and development costs, spillover benefits, etc.; (2) when the integration cost, synergistic benefit, and spillover benefit of both parties meet certain conditions, the introduction of a cost-sharing mechanism can significantly improve the realization probability of value co-creation; (3) the introduction of a reward-and-punishment mechanism on the basis of cost-sharing can effectively promote the coordination of value co-creation between the two parties in the game. Both government subsidies and fines have a positive impact on the integrated development behavior of the two parties. When the synergistic benefits are greater than the sum of the spillover benefits of tourism enterprises and inheritors, liquidated damages can effectively promote the integrated value co-creation of ICH tourism.

Rural tourism is an important way to realize rural revitalization. University students starting businesses in rural tourism promote industry development and rural revitalization. Based on the theory of entrepreneurial resource endowment, parents’socio-economic status is considered a moderator and entrepreneurial self-efficacy toward rural tourism is considered a mediator in this study to construct a relationship model between university students’resource endowment and entrepreneurial intention in rural tourism. A questionnaire survey on university students provided 321 valid responses for data analysis. Structural equation modeling revealed that family support and psychological capital for entrepreneurship in rural tourism are positively related to entrepreneurial intention in rural tourism. Entrepreneurial self-efficacy of rural tourism was found to mediate the relationship between (a) family support for entrepreneurship in rural tourism and entrepreneurial intention in rural tourism, and (b) psychological capital for entrepreneurship in rural tourism and entrepreneurial intention in rural tourism. Parents’ socio-economic status was found to modulate the mediation of entrepreneurial self-efficacy of rural tourism on the relationship between family support and entrepreneurial intention in rural tourism and psychological capital and entrepreneurial intention in rural tourism.

With accelerating digital transformation, innovation has emerged as the core driver sustaining the development of exhibition enterprises. However, existing research predominantly focuses on traditional innovation mechanisms, with insufficient attention paid to the impact of the organizational innovation climate on ambidextrous innovation amid the digitalization of the exhibition industry. Therefore, grounded in the theory of ambidextrous innovation, in this study, an analytical model is constructed, incorporating digital empowerment, and the effects of organizational innovation climate on ambidextrous innovation and innovation performance are empirically examined. The findings reveal that organizational innovation climate (1) exerts a significantly positive impact on corporate innovation performance; (2) influences innovation performance through the mediating role of ambidextrous innovation; and (3) its relationship with ambidextrous innovation is positively moderated by digital empowerment. Specifically, (a) analytical capability strengthens the positive effect of organizational support on exploitative innovation; (b) connectivity capability significantly moderates the relationship between team collaboration and exploitative innovation; but (c) intelligent capability does not demonstrate a significant positive moderating effect on the relationship between autonomous work and exploratory innovation, as well as autonomous work and exploitative innovation. This study extends the application of ambidextrous innovation in the digital context and provides theoretical support and practical insights for enterprises in the exhibition industry and other relevant sectors to foster an innovation climate, enhance digital capabilities, and boost innovation performance.

In the era of the digital economy, information infrastructure, as an important part of the new infrastructure, has a profound impact on tourism economy. Based on panel data from 2006 to 2019 of 59 key tourism cities in China, this study considers the “Broadband China” pilot cities as a quasi-natural experiment and uses the difference-in-difference model to evaluate the impact of information infrastructure on the development of tourism economy in these cities. Information infrastructure was found to promote the development of tourism economy, a finding that remained valid after a robustness test. The mediating effect analysis showed that information infrastructure promotes the development of tourism economy by enhancing urban innovation ability and upgrading industrial structure. The heterogeneity test showed that the promotion effect of information infrastructure on tourism economy varies by geographical location and city status, as highlighted in the eastern cities and non-provincial capital cities. Additionally, information infrastructure has a significant positive spatial spillover effect on the development of tourism economy in neighboring cities. These findings provide direction for policymakers to ensure optimal use of information infrastructure to promote the development of tourism economy.

Although the“data-driven”paradigm, anchored in big data and machine learning, has significantly expanded the empirical horizons of tourism research, its inherent methodological limitations are becoming increasingly evident. Concurrently, the emergence of Generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) marks a transition from“analytical”to“generative”intelligence, catalyzing a methodological revolution in the social sciences. This paper argues that tourism research is undergoing a fundamental paradigm shift: from a“data-driven”approach focused on historical correlations to an “intelligence-generated” paradigm characterized by deep semantic understanding, interactive reasoning, and multi-agent simulation. First, this paper critiques the epistemological bottlenecks of the data-driven paradigm with regard to causal inference and theory building. It then elucidates how the core capabilities of LLMs—contextual awareness, controllable generation, and generative agents—serve as technological cornerstones of the new paradigm. Crucially, this study demonstrates how this shift systematically reconstructs the research lifecycle: inquiry evolves from explaining“facts”to exploring“possibilities”; analysis shifts from mining“correlations”to generating“reasoning”; and theory building transforms from static induction to dynamic“computational experiments.”This transition necessitates a redefinition of the researcher’s role from a data “interpreter” to a “designer”of thought experiments. The study concludes by proposing a forward-looking agenda for navigating the opportunities and ethical challenges of the generative era.

Rural tourism clusters are the concentrated embodiment and inevitable result of the scaling, expansion, and standardized development of rural tourism in the new period. However, there are few research results on the development process and analysis of its logical mechanisms. To explore the logical progression and influencing factors of the development process of rural tourism clusters, this study adopts the case study method to deeply analyze the development history of two typical rural tourism cluster villages in Tiantai County, Zhejiang Province, combined with the qualitative research method of grounded theory, and attempts to identify the growth stages and internal mechanisms of rural tourism clusters. The study finds that: (1) Based on the research framework of “process identification-drivers-mechanism analysis”, the development process of rural tourism clusters is divided into four major stages: the origin stage, the growth stage, the consolidation stage, and the demonstration stage. Important drivers of rural tourism cluster development, such as government drive, resource endowment, economic efficiency, human factors, and contingent factors, are identified; (2) It proposes a “spontaneous-guided-regulated” mechanism for the growth of rural tourism clusters, streamlining two typical formation mechanisms of rural tourism clusters: “market spontaneity-government guidance-market regulation”and “imitation effect-innovation diffusion-iterative renewal”; (3) It proposes paths and countermeasures for the development of rural tourism agglomerations toward Chinese modernization. The conclusions expand the theoretical basis of rural tourism clusters and provide theoretical support and practical references for the integrated planning and innovative development of rural tourism clusters.

Tourism rights are a critical issue in tourism ethics research. In recent years, the Chinese government has advanced core principles including “equality” “participation” and “sharing” to protect the rights of vulnerable groups from the perspective of promoting social equity and justice, advocating for the achievement of social fairness through “inclusive development”. In the tourism sector, people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups encounter numerous barriers to participating in tourism activities, rendering their tourism rights susceptible to exclusion. Existing research on tourism rights for vulnerable groups predominantly focuses on legal frameworks and normative regulations, and rarely considers the ethical legitimacy underlying these rights. In response, this study elevates the discussion of tourism rights for vulnerable groups to the level of equity and justice within a normative analytical framework. It specifically elaborates the ethical dimensions, realization pathways, and policy recommendations for tourism rights of vulnerable groups from an inclusiveness perspective, encompassing both the negative dimension of “eliminating exclusion”and the positive dimension of “promoting participation”. The negative dimension requires eliminating or minimizing subjective and structural obstacles faced by vulnerable groups, while the positive dimension mandates that relevant stakeholders assume responsibilities in “promoting inclusive democratic decision-making” “cultivating spatial justice within tourism landscapes” and “integrating vulnerable groups into tourism production processes”.

With the rapid development of artificial intelligence, many hotels have introduced robots to cooperate with employees during service operations. The purpose of human-robot co-production is to free employees from simple and repetitive transactional work so that they have more time to engage in creative and emotional work. However, theoretical research on whether this goal can be achieved is lacking. Based on the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, this paper explores the process through which human-robot co-production affects employee innovation performance. Through a questionnaire survey of 382 frontline hotel employees and a regression analysis of the data, it is found that human-robot co-production has a positive impact on innovation performance, and challenge appraisal and work engagement play a chain-mediating role in this process. Developmental human resource practices positively moderate the relationship between human-robot co-production and challenge appraisal, and between human-robot co-production and work engagement. The research conclusions enrich the literature on human-robot interaction and employee management in theory and have practical implications for hotel managers seeking to make better use of robot technology and employees’human capital to improve innovation performance.

Tourism enterprises face multiple uncertainties and challenges in an era of VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity). Based on an investigation of micro and small tourism enterprises in Jiaju Tibetan Villages and Zhonglu Tibetan Village, this study employs procedural grounded theory to reveal the formation mechanism of organizational resilience in micro and small tourism enterprises. The findings indicate that crisis events trigger organizational resilience, promoting a capability-action-capability circular dual-drive interaction mechanism between dynamic capabilities (environmental adaptation capability, resource integration capability, and learning innovation capability) and resource bricolage (human resource, physical, skill, market, institutional, and cultural bricolage), jointly shaping three differentiated levels of outcomes: damage mitigation, survival recovery, and transcending the original status. The theoretical innovation of this research lies in decoding the non-linear interactive relationship between dynamic capabilities and resource bricolage, expanding the theoretical framework of resource bricolage, particularly by adding the dimension of cultural bricolage, and revealing five unique resilience mechanisms for micro-enterprises, including the “one core, two wings” resource integration model and “borrowing strength and momentum” capability compensation. This study provides a new perspective on crisis response strategies for micro and small tourism enterprises and offers important implications for promoting resilient tourism development in vulnerable regions.

The report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China promotes the in-depth integrated development of culture and tourism, making cultural and tourism integration a hot topic in tourism research. Through bibliometric analysis, this study systematically sorts the overall research progress in domestic cultural and tourism integration. Furthermore, based on content analysis of the relevant literature, it summarizes the main research topics and gaps in terms of the essence and connotation, dimensions and measurement, development models, paths and mechanisms, as well as influencing factors and outcomes of cultural and tourism integration. This study introduces the ecosystem perspective, constructs a theoretical framework for cultural and tourism integration based on the concept of a cultural and tourism integration ecosystem, and proposes a future research agenda within this framework. From an ecosystem perspective, this study conducts an integrated analysis of existing research on cultural and tourism integration, deepens and expands the theoretical construction of cultural and tourism integration, and provides theoretical references for the practice of the cultural and tourism integration ecosystem and its multiple subjects.

With the emergence of spatial alienation, segregation, and other non-equilibrium problems in tourism development, spatial justice has gradually received attention. Using the Web of Science and the CNKI database as data sources, this article reviews the academic history of spatial justice research in tourism in both domestic and foreign contexts, presents the development progress and research contents of this field using a chart visualization method, and reviews and proposes several research foresights and expectations. The findings are as follows. The history of introducing spatial justice into the field of tourism research is not yet long. It has gone through three stages: initial exploration, undulating development, and steady development. Research on tourism spatial justice has mainly focused on connotations, differentiated stakeholder demands, the phenomenon of spatial injustice, and the paths for realizing tourism spatial justice. Further in-depth research on its internal specific requirements and generative logic has yet to be conducted. Current research methods are mainly qualitative and lack exploratory validation and other quantitative research methods. Subsequent research should strengthen the combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods and intensify empirical and confirmatory studies. The relationship between tourism spatial production, spatial justice, and spatial injustice problems should be further discussed to enhance the practical guidance of tourism spatial justice theory. The following research prospects are proposed. (1) Distinguishing between original and institutional issues in tourism spatial justice. (2) Besides social justice, tourism spatial justice should also consider multidimensional aspects, such as environmental, cultural, and economic dimensions. (3) In terms of intergenerational equity, protecting the survival resources of future generations while meeting contemporary needs should be emphasized. (4) Community participation, governance, and sustainable livelihoods are essential for implementing spatial justice in tourism. (5) Space governance and policy regulations are important measures for securing tourism spatial justice, but their comprehensive effects also need to be considered.

Phygital Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) tourism, which creates immersive experiences by integrating physical sites with digital interactions, offers an innovative pathway for addressing the core challenges in ICH’s living transmission, public engagement, and sustainable dissemination. Grounded in the Cognitive-Affective-Conative (CAC) theory, this study introduces cultural empathy and flow experience as mediating variables to explore the impact mechanism of phygital ICH tourism experiences on tourists’ cultural inheritance intention. The results indicate the following. First, the phygital ICH tourism experience has a significant positive impact on tourists’ cultural inheritance intention. Second, cultural empathy and flow experience exert significant positive effects on cultural inheritance intention. Third, flow experience and cultural empathy serve as mediators in the relationship between the phygital ICH experience and cultural inheritance intention, forming a significant chain-mediating effect. This study enriches the literature on phygital tourism and provides practical insights into the development and design of digital ICH tourism projects.

To consolidate academic consensus, promote the development of an independent knowledge system in tourism studies in China, and support the advancement of a strong tourism nation, the research team systematically reviewed the literature, conducted academic discussions, identified ten major academic hotspots in tourism research for 2025, and provided in-depth commentary on related topics. The findings reveal that (1) as of 2025, tourism research topics in China are more closely aligned with national strategic orientations and practical governance needs, demonstrating significantly enhanced problem awareness; (2) the research content increasingly highlights the integration of culture and tourism, digital technology empowerment, and the reconstruction of new consumption scenarios, reflecting a distinct interdisciplinary trend; and (3) the research approach places greater emphasis on refining theories with Chinese characteristics, building an independent knowledge system, and contributing to international discourse, indicating a shift from empirical summarization to theoretical advancement and from practical tracking to systematic development in tourism research. This study contributes to understanding the distribution of research hotspots and emerging frontiers in tourism studies from an annual perspective, providing a valuable academic reference for advancing the construction of an independent knowledge system and fostering innovation in the tourism discipline.

This study uses digital footprints extracted from online travelogues as data and applies social network analysis and other methods to analyze the temporal and spatial behavior of Hanfu travel photography in Luoyang. The findings are as follows. First, Hanfu travel photography is a typical practice under the new tourism resource concept led by “China-Chic”, and its role in highlighting cultural self-confidence is becoming increasingly prominent. Second, the mechanism of “symbol attraction-spatio-temporal behavior-meaning production”, driven by the new tourism resource concept and combined with spatial production theory, drives the government’s integration of resources to create the symbol of“Tang Dynasty”(spatial representation). Tourists engage in embodied travel photography to practice spatio-temporal behavior (spatial practice), return to the Tang Dynasty, achieving the meaning of their dream (representational space). Third, this study examines the temporal and spatial behavioral characteristics of Hanfu travel photography in Luoyang, discovering the temporal characteristics of “seasonal balance driven by festivals and events” and the spatial characteristics of “dual axis supported attraction clustering”. These patterns overcome the static limitations of traditional spatial practices of single scenic spots and single scenes, and based on personal preferences, form a dual axis differentiated choice of historical narrative and life experience of “Dreaming Back to the Tang Dynasty”. The expansion of spatial production theory in the new era, along with its localized application in the integration of culture and tourism amid the rise of China-Chic consumption, offers a valuable framework for optimizing the supply of integrated cultural and tourism products. It also supports the creative transformation and innovative development of traditional cultural resources in Luoyang and other historically and culturally significant cities.

The theory of the Chinese path to modernization, characterized by five core features, provides theoretical guidance and clarifies the strategic positioning of tourism in the new era to promote high-quality economic development in China. As an imported concept, the definition and connotation of ecotourism require refinement and deeper contextualization to align with China’s unique patterns of localized development. Grounded in the theory of the Chinese path to modernization and the contemporary context, this study redefines ecotourism based on China’s national conditions and practical development as a landscape system centered on the fundamental pursuit of harmony between humanity and nature, guided by the core principles of respecting, revering, and protecting nature. This system integrates native natural landscapes and ecological environments, autochthonous natural-cultural ecosystems, and allochthonous restored and optimized environmental governance sites. Its developmental objectives include advancing public ecological education, achieving common prosperity for the people, promoting the coordinated development of material and spiritual civilization, and participating in global environmental governance. Additionally, this study proposes six ecological principles tailored to mass tourism: green development, conservation first, resource intensification, systemic optimization, environmental education, and ecology for the people. These principles provide a theoretical reference for academic research and industrial development in ecotourism in the new era.

Rural tourism is an important means of achieving rural revitalization. However, both internal and external crises in the tourism system have impacted the tourism industry. How community residents in rural tourism deal with the stress caused by tourism crisis is worthy of consideration. Currently, there are relatively few dynamic analyses of the stress-coping processes of community residents in rural tourism. Enhe Village in Ergun City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, was selected as the case study site. This study fills this gap by analyzing the stress-coping processes of community residents during the tourism crisis from 2020 to 2022. This study employed descriptive experience sampling and conducted four interviews to obtain diachronic data, applying the “coping resource-action-coping result” framework to map residents’ stress coping processes. The results indicate： (1) based on the characteristics of community residents’ coping processes, five types of stress coping models are refined, namely, livestock livelihood support coping, loyal customer support coping, focus on mid-to-high-end market coping, connection to the external market coping, and leading winter tourism coping; (2) residents’ stress-coping processes present three stages: resisting shocks, resuming operations, and innovating, and the role of coping resources varies across stages; and (3) according to the self-construal type, stress-coping models can be divided into independent and interdependent self-coping, and these two types differ in terms of resource combination and coping thinking. This study extends and deepens research on coping with stress in the tourism field and provides practical implications for crisis management in rural tourism communities.

In the context of traffic surges, the local and external cultures of Internet celebrity destinations collide, exhibiting characteristics of short-term, high-intensity evolution and reshaping the emotional trajectories of tourists. Taking Harbin as a case study, this study systematically explores the dynamic evolution of destinations and tourists’ emotional experiences under the influencer effect based on semi-structured in-depth interviews and grounded coding analysis. The study finds that the following. First, Internet celebrity destinations display a ternary collaborative evolution of “service design-social response-spatial reconstruction,” reflecting the destinations’ rapid adaptation and structural adjustment in response to traffic surges. Second, tourists’ emotional experiences undergo three stages—expectation construction, immersive interaction, and identity generation—with positive emotional experiences consistently dominating throughout the process. Third, the evolution of destinations and tourists’ emotional experiences form a coupling relationship, where the destination acts as an emotional trigger providing symbolic promises, and tourists’ emotions serve as a validation benchmark and feedback driver, jointly constructing a dynamically interwoven, closed-loop system of meaning. The “Coupling model of Internet celebrity destination evolution and tourists’ emotional experience” constructed in this paper expands the theoretical perspective on tourist destinations and emotional experiences in the digital age, providing practical insights for optimizing tourist experiences and the sustainable development of destinations.

Tourist interaction refers to the interplay and mutual influence between tourists and diverse elements or entities, serving as a crucial means of enhancing experience quality, constructing social relationships, and maintaining destination brand reputation. This study systematically reviews the subject types, measurement tools, influencing factors, and effects of tourist interaction, constructs a comprehensive research framework, and proposes three major research approaches: digitalization, micro-orientation, and dialectics. Accordingly, it outlines future research directions, including establishing measurement and theoretical frameworks that integrate virtual and real contexts, analyzing dynamic psychological processes and group heterogeneity, and integrating multiple perspectives to unpack complex system effects, aiming to provide references for the theoretical development and practical advancement of tourist interaction research.

Against the backdrop of integrated cultural and tourism development, children’s choir concerts—an art form that combines artistic appeal with music healing properties—have gradually been integrated into tourism healing scenarios. However, the internal mechanisms through which they enhance subjective well-being remain unclear. To address this, this study adopted a field questionnaire survey method to collect data from on-site audiences of children’s choir concerts, examining the time perspective-based enhancement path of such concerts on individuals’ subjective well-being. The results show that children’s choir concert experiences can directly improve subjective well-being and indirectly promote it through two time perspectives: positive past and future orientation. Meanwhile, it weakens negative past and present fatalistic perspectives and strengthens the present hedonistic perspective. This study enriches the literature on tourism healing, music healing, and time perspective, providing references for the government to promote social healing, relevant institutions to develop healing products, and individuals to enhance their well-being.

The development of rural red tourism provides new opportunities for rural revitalization. However, the influence of ritual activities on residents’ socially responsible behaviors remains unclear. Drawing on moral emotion and interaction ritual chains theories, this study investigates how rural red tourism rituals affect residents’ socially responsible behavior based on questionnaire data. The results show that the perceived ritualization of rural red tourism significantly enhances residents’ socially responsible behaviors. Red identity fusion and place attachment mediate this relationship. Moreover, red cultural awe moderates the relationship between red identity fusion and socially responsible behavior, not that between place attachment and socially responsible behavior. This study enriches the literature on rural red tourism and socially responsible behavior by revealing the role and underlying mechanisms of rituals in shaping responsible behavior. It also provides practical implications for the development of red tourism and the cultivation of socially responsible behavior among rural residents.