Influencing factors of tourists’ payment level for grassland tourism products: A case study of Ningxia grassland scenic spot

Based on the image evaluation of grassland tourist destinations, we used field survey data of 349 tourists from Yinchuan and Zhongwei Cities in Ningxia as analysis samples and extracted the internal and market supporting services, scenic tourism resources, and transportation convenience through factor analysis. We used the Heckman sample selection model to analyze four influencing factors of tourists’ payment level for purchasing grassland tourism products. The results showed that among the socioeconomic characteristics of tourists, their age (P < 0.01) and annual family income (P < 0.05) had a significant positive impact on whether tourists visited grasslands, while education level (P < 0.1) had a significant positive effect on tourists purchasing grasslands. The payment level of tourism products had a significant promoting effect, and the total number of households (P < 0.05) had a significant negative impact on it. In the evaluation of images for grassland tourism destinations, the internal services of scenic spots (P < 0.05) had a significant negative correlation with whether tourists have participated in grassland tourism, while scenic tourism resources (P < 0.01) and market supporting services (P < 0.05) had a significant positive impact, but the latter had a negative impact on the level of tourists’ payment. The degree of transportation convenience (P < 0.1) was significantly negatively correlated with the level of tourists’ payment. Based on this, we put forward the following suggestions: the tourism infrastructure should be constantly updated, and a systematic personnel service evaluation system should be established. Additionally, cultural tourism products should be innovated, deeply dig and interpret the theme of grassland culture. The diversification of market services should be promoted, and characteristic customized services should be created. Furthermore, the promotion of the construction of the external special line of the grassland tourist scenic spot should be accelerated, and its internal road signs should be improved.