Influencing factors of environment conflict in tourism destinations based on qualitative comparative analysis: A case study of Mount Wutai Scenic Spot

Environmental conflict is one of the main elements of resident-tourist conflict in tourism destinations, and exploring the influencing factors of environmental conflict is of great theoretical and practical significance for spatial planning and conflict resolution in tourism destinations. Taking Mount Wutai Scenic Spot as an example, this paper compares the subjective dimension of environmental conflict in the two groups of residents and tourists through a combination of grounded theory and qualitative comparative analysis, and analyzes the multiple paths that lead to multiple perceptions of the environmental conflict. The main conclusions are as follows: ① Residents and tourists perceive environmental conflicts in tourist destinations with both commonalities and differences. The commonality is expressed through the disordered management of scenic spots. The difference lies in residents focusing on tourists’ inappropriate behavior, while tourists are concerned about the limited functions of the tourist environment. ② The core conflict conditions represented by holidays, order and facilities show that the dislocation of subjective space possession and experience rights is the core element leading to the perceived environment conflict between the two groups. ③ Anomie of norm is a special factor that leads to the environmental conflict in cultural tourism destinations, and this is evident among both residents and tourists.