Uncovering the Spatial Logic of Tourism Attractions: A Geospatial Analysis of Distribution Patterns and Driving Forces in Luxor, Egypt

Abstract

The spatial distribution of tourism attractions plays an important role in shaping visitor travel behaviour, accessibility to tourism locations, and tourist destination management and planning. This study examines the spatial patterns of tourism attractions in Luxor Governorate, Egypt, and the factors influencing these spatial relationships using a variety of geospatial analysis techniques. These techniques include Nearest Neighbour Index (NNI), Standard Deviational Ellipse (SDE), Kernel Density Estimation (KDE), and Local Moran’s I. In addition, a combination of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Geodetector were applied to determine which of sixteen identified factors influenced the distribution of tourist attractions in Luxor. Finally, the spatial relationships between the identified factors and the distribution of tourist attractions were analysed through the use of Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression (MGWR). The results show that there is a strong clustering of tourism attractions in Luxor within three main hubs: Luxor City (East Bank), Qurna (West Bank), and Esna. The results further indicate that the most influential factors influencing the distribution of tourist attractions in Luxor include regional services centrality, GDP index, proximity to urban centres, tourism workforce localisation, urbanisation level, and environmental quality, respectfully. The implications of this research provide practical applications for developing more sustainable and balanced tourism development strategies in heritage-rich regions such as Luxor.