The study measured tourism development and the production-living-ecological system on Hainan Island using entropy weights, coupling coordination, spatial autocorrelation and grey correlation.
Key findings
- Domestic overnight visitors and hotel numbers were prominent correlates, while inbound and domestic overnight stays were linked to coordination between tourism and PLES.
Why this matters globally
Island destinations globally must balance economy, living conditions and ecology. Composite monitoring should be paired with carrying capacity, water, waste, housing and community-benefit measures.
Thai researcher contribution
A Dhurakij Pundit University-linked author contributed to the Hainan sustainability analysis.
Limitations to consider
Composite scores can hide trade-offs and causal direction. There is no counterfactual, transferability is uncertain and effect sizes or uncertainty are not reported in the abstract.