Research on the network structure evolution characteristics of outdoor sports tourism flow in the Yangtze River Economic belt based on online travel notes.

Taking the Yangtze River Economic Belt as the study area, this research comprehensively applies spatial analysis methods and social network analysis methods to investigate the evolutionary characteristics of outdoor sports tourism flow network structure, utilizing online travelogue data collected through Python-based techniques. By integrating spatial analysis and social network analysis, we study the evolution characteristics of the network structure of outdoor sports tourism flow in the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2012 to 2018. The results show that (1) The Yangtze River Economic Belt has shown steady growth in the number of outdoor sports tourism nodes, with significant spatial disparities in their distribution. These nodes are concentrated primarily in the lower reaches (eastern China) and upper reaches (western China) of the Yangtze River, demonstrating an overall development pattern characterized by "higher density in eastern and western regions compared to the central area."; (2) the overall network density of outdoor sports tourism flow is not high, but during the study period, the overall network density value of outdoor sports tourism flow continues to rise, the connections between nodes are increasingly close, and the internal structure of the network is becoming clearer with time; and (3) the imbalance of the outdoor sports tourism flow network has gradually increased, which strengthens the role of the urban agglomeration or central city in the outdoor sports tourism flow network, aggravates the unbalanced state of the entire network structure, and the polarization of the network has become increasingly significant. The outdoor sports tourism flow essentially conforms to the "Pareto principle". This study provides a scientific decision-making basis for rationally planning outdoor sports tourism routes and scientifically developing outdoor sports tourism destinations, while also offering theoretical support for optimizing the spatial layout and spatial structure of the outdoor sports tourism industry in the Yangtze River Economic Belt.