An Empirical Study on the Coupling Development of the Red Tangerine Industry and Rural Tourism in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area

Abstract

Against the dual background of the rural revitalization strategy and ecological protection in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, the coupling development of the red tangerine industry and rural tourism in Wanzhou District is a key path to addressing industrial predicaments and tourism shortcomings. However, existing studies lack adaptability analysis for the special scenarios of the reservoir area. Based on time-series data and cross-sectional data from 2015 to 2024, this study constructs an evaluation system incorporating characteristic indicators such as ecological carrying capacity and immigrant employment driving rate, and systematically measures the coupling level using methods including the entropy weight method and coupling coordination degree model. The results show that the coupling degree increased from 0.40 to 0.73, realizing the leap from the antagonism stage to the running-in stage; the coupling coordination degree rose from 0.34 to 0.67, completing the upgrade from mild imbalance to good coordination; the relative development degree evolved from “rural tourism lagging → basically synchronized → red tangerine industry lagging”, with an E value of 0.89 in 2024, indicating that the lag in the tourism-oriented transformation of the industry is the core contradiction. Weak infrastructure and loose interest linkage are the main restrictive factors. The four-dimensional optimization path proposed in the study can provide reference for industrial integration in the reservoir area.