Village Network Centrality in Rural Tourism Destination： A Case from Yesanpo Tourism Area, China

With the development of rural tourism, the cooperation of villages has become very important. Identifying the status and importance of each village can contribute to better understanding of the integrated rural tourism management and sustainable rural tourism development. The research focused on 46 villages of Yesanpo scenic spot in China （39°35＇-40° north latitude, and 115°16＇- 115°30＇ east longitude）. Integrating the method of Geographical Information System （GIS） and social network analysis, the spatial centrality and interrelation of each village in Yesanpo tourism destination were evaluated. The results showed that Xinggezhuang is the spatial core village of the whole 46 villages in Yesanpo tourism areas; Xinggezhuang, Nanzhuang, Zhenchang, Daze, Liujiahe and Zishikou are sub-core villages of the six tourism spots. Magezhuang, Ximagezhuang, Eyu, Zishikou, Daze, Shangzhuang, Zhenchang and Xiazhuang should be support of the core villages, which provide subsidiary services and connects with other nodes. The results also indicated that the study of the village centrality will contribute to build an integrated hierarchy structure and to provide sufficient basis for further development of rural tourism destination.