Abundance of tourism resources and regional tourism development

“Curse of Resource” is a well-known proposition in development economics. Does this phenomenon exist in tourism development? In this paper, based on the provincial level data, it is studied whether regional tourism development depends on the abundance of tourism resources or other constraints. The results show that tourism resource is only one of the factors affecting tourism development level, and the phenomenon of “curse of resource” and spatial differences in characteristics of tourism are mainly caused by major investment in the tertiary industry and attractions density. To this end, in areas with rich tourism resources and relatively low tourism revenue, it should be focused on developing resource potential and integration of tourism resources, as well as improving the concentration of resources, in order to promote the development of the tourism industry; furthermore, in areas with relative scarcity of tourism resources, the lack of resources can be compensated thorough improving economic development level and regional accessibility degree, strengthening infrastructure construction, as well as improving the level of tourism services.