Regionalization of marine tourism resources in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area based on accessibility analysis

Zoning marine tourism resources facilitates the regulation and control of marine development, supports the rational construction of marine tourism functional areas, and promotes high-quality development of the marine economy. This study measures the accessibility of marine tourism resources in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) based on their geographical locations, and conducts spatial merging of adjacent marine tourism resources to achieve regionalization of marine resources in the area. The results indicate that: ① There are 539 marine tourism resources in GBA, with natural resources being the most abundant, followed by cultural resources. Spatially, these resources exhibit a pattern of gradual decrease from the coast inland and diffusion outward from the Pearl River Estuary; ② The highest concentration and abundance of marine tourism resources are found on the eastern and western banks of the Pearl River Estuary, though the western bank has significantly fewer resources than the eastern bank. Administrative regions with relatively abundant resources include Hong Kong, Macao, Shenzhen, and Zhuhai; ③ Overall, GBA can be divided into 5 major marine tourism resource zones, 9 subzones, and 16 micro-zones. Finally, in the process of developing marine tourism resources in GBA, priority should be given to regions rich in such resources, highlighting the distinctive characteristics of local marine tourism resources, and optimizing collaborative development mechanisms.