The Temporal–Spatial Distribution of Key Cultural Relics Protection Sites in China and Tourism Response

The Key Cultural Relics Protection Sites in China (CKCRPS) are part of China’s tangible cultural heritage with the highest level of protection. These sites constitute an important witness and remnant of Chinese civilization. Little research attention has been devoted to heritage conservation and tourism use of CKCRPS, however. Therefore, this article aims to promote the conservation planning and tourism revitalization utilization of CKCRPS by studying its spatial and temporal differentiation characteristics. This article uses geospatial analysis to explore the spatial distribution and temporal evolution of the 5,053 CKCRPS and their impact on tourism development in various provinces of mainland China. The results show that CKCRPS is mainly concentrated in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the sites have experienced the evolution process of concentration–dispersion–reconcentration–redispersion, and the program has a significant positive impact on tourism development, but the influence is smaller in central provinces and greater in peripheral provinces.