From maintenance to meaning: evaluating the role of strategies, satisfaction, and urbanization in sustainable development of heritage tourism

This paper is to shed light on the dynamic processes shaping sustainable urban tourism development in Nanyang City, Henan Province, China, which is a second-tier historical city facing rapid urbanization, threats to heritage preservation efforts, and growing tourist demand. This study draws upon the research gap regarding sustainable urban tourism in developing historical cities, and especially the case of balancing heritage restoration with tourism expansion. Sustainable Development Theory and Quintuple Helix Innovation Model were developed within the theoretical framework and used to investigate the impacts of maintenance strategies, sustainable restoration, and community involvement on both sustainable urban tourism development and tourist satisfaction. A structural equation modeling analysis of 312 respondents from domestic and international backgrounds reveals that community engagement has a positive effect on tourist satisfaction and sustainable tourism outcomes, whereas poorly executed or unsustainable restoration reduces tourist satisfaction. The findings contribute to the literature on sustainable urban tourism and demonstrate how routine maintenance, community participation, and multi-stakeholder governance articulate heritage-sensitive sustainability in second-tier cities, which follows previous studies predominantly on first-tier or world destination contexts. Tourist satisfaction is identified as a significant mediating variable, which highlights the relevance of planning strategies sensitive to visitors. Urbanization does not moderate the satisfaction-sustainability relationship. Contributions include the theoretical implications of how a multi-stakeholder innovation ecosystem can be utilized and justified, and what lessons can be learned that guide policymakers and city planners to balance urban development, heritage preservation, and tourist satisfaction in fast-developing historical cities.