The Spatio-temporal Changes of Tourism Multidimensional Poverty Alleviation Effect at County in Southwest China based on Night Light Data

Tourism development is one of the important ways to eradicate poverty. It is of great significance to study tourism poverty alleviation effect from the perspective of multidimensional poverty. In this study, we take the national-level poverty-stricken counties of the Southwest China region that have been lifted out of poverty as the study cases, and introduce the NPP/VIIRS night light data to measure multidimensional poverty. The Geographically Weighted Regression method is used to explore the multidimensional poverty reduction effect of tourism development from 2012-2019. The results show that: (1) From 2012 to 2019, the level of tourism development in poor counties in Southwest China continued to improve, showing a spatial pattern of "high in the east and low in the west", and the regional difference in tourism development decreased; (2) In the past eight years, multidimensional poverty in poor counties in Southwest China was alleviated steadily. In terms of spatial distribution, the level of multidimensional poverty gradually decreased from the west to the east, and the spatial difference tended to decrease; (3) The tourism development can alleviate multidimensional poverty in economic, educational, medical, and social security aspects at county level. There is obvious spatial heterogeneity in the intensity of tourism multidimensional poverty reduction, with Sichuan's poor counties having the highest intensity of tourism poverty reduction. Overall, the tourism poverty reduction intensity is higher in poor counties in eastern Sichuan, northern Sichuan, and southeastern Yunnan, and lower in western Yunnan, southeastern Chongqing, and western Guizhou; (4) The intensity of tourism poverty reduction is mainly influenced by the endowment of tourism resource, the level of economic development, and the location of transportation. These influencing factors promote tourism development through the development of tourism resource, the strengthening of tourism industry support, and the improvement of tourism accessibility, etc. The tourism industry has a strong industrial linkage that leads to comprehensive regional development, improving economic, educational, medical, and social security levels in poor areas, and achieving multidimensional poverty reduction through tourism development. The intensity of tourism poverty reduction in poor counties is influenced by a variety of factors, so tourism poverty reduction development needs to be considered in the context of the actual situation. The effectiveness of tourism in reducing poverty can be improved by increasing the competitiveness of tourism products and improving transport conditions. In addition, the study finds that the measurement of multidimensional poverty based on night light data has a high accuracy and can provide data support for poverty research. The findings of the study have important reference value for the implementation of China's tourism poverty alleviation strategy, especially for the prevention of poverty return after 2020. © 2022, Science Press. All right reserved.