Xiaoting Ma, Nangkula Utaberta, Nadzirah Zainordin
Tourist areas mediate the impact of online popularity on offline visitation, shaping travel decisions. However, the nonlinear relationship between the built environment and visitors’ emotional fulfilment remains complex. This study quantified offline and online visitation using Origin – Destination (OD) data and social media text data, identifying emotional fulfilment through natural language processing. It integrated the coupling coordination model to assess online – offline synergy in visitation and emotional fulfilment, and applied Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) with SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) to provide nonlinear interpretations from spatial perception and environmental service variables. Findings revealed: (1) online popularity attracts first-time visitors, but their emotional fulfilment depends more on offline experience quality. (2) Coordinating online promotion with offline experiences enhances emotional fulfilment. Core areas show strong synergy, while suburban areas use a ‘resource compensation mechanism’ by improving transport and showcasing high-quality resources. (3) Spatial perception and environmental services exhibit ‘threshold’ and ‘gain’ effects on emotional fulfilment. However, excessive density triggers a ‘double-edged effect’ that ultimately reduces it. These findings provided targeted recommendations for urban tourism planning, contributing to the creation of visitor-friendly urban environments.