Five teachers from the HNU-ASU Joint International Tourism College, Hainan University (HAITC), are included in the list of the 2022 projects funded by the Hainan Provincial Natural Science Foundation, according to a notice released recently by the Science and Technology Department of Hainan province.

Xiao Xiao and Li Ping are eligible for support as young scholars, and Lin Haiying, Xu Yuhua and Zhang Fang have been approved to launch high-level talents projects.

As an important part of science and technology plan of Hainan province, Hainan Provincial Natural Science Foundation mainly supports basic research and application-oriented basic research projects conducted by higher education and scientific research institutes.

The plan focuses on sci-tech frontiers and key tasks deployed by the CPC Hainan provincial committee and the Hainan provincial government. It also promotes the integration and innovative development of basic research and application-oriented basic research, cultivates talents in the field, enhances Hainan’s independent innovation ability and facilitates socio-economic advancements.

Five HAITC teachers are included on the list of the 2022 projects funded by Hainan Provincial Natural Science Foundation. [Photo/haitc.hainanu.edu.cn]

Xiao’s project is to explore the effects of natural and cultural tourism landscape on tourists' perception of tourism geography and environmental psychology. By measuring the landscape perception indicators of tourists, Xiao will study their emotion adjustment based on the attention recovery theory and stresses interaction theory, providing references for improving the quality of leisure services in China.

Li will survey the development, influential factors and enhancement of local residents' living standards brought by the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP). The project will evaluate their livelihood, analyze differences in residents' living standards, attitudes and their participation in the construction of the FTP.

Lin will study the building and operation of rural revitalization platforms under the leadership of the local government and the realization of common prosperity, focusing on collective entrepreneurship and innovation, community autonomy and co-governance. Based on the study of domestic cases, Lin will resort to international experiences and advocates the establishment of a collective rural revitalization mechanism to solve the imbalance of urban-rural development.

Xu is paying close attention to the social and economic recovery of island tourism destinations under the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. By studying cities and counties in Hainan province, she will examine the socio-economic resilience of Hainan’s tourism industry in her research.

Zhang will investigate coastal human-land relationship and coastal vulnerability as well as the causes of wetland evolution in Hainan in recent years. Remote sensing technology, data fusion and computer feature selection technology will be applied in the study to improve the accuracy of wetland mapping, trace the changes of wetlands’ spatial pattern and the degradation of their ecological functions, providing real-time monitoring information for wetland protection.

HAITC’s inclusion in the list marked a confirmation of the college’s scientific and technological achievements. HAITC will step forward with an open mind, further improve the academic atmosphere on campus and enhance its influence in scientific research.