Abstract:Given the uniqueness of world heritage resources, an increasing number have been developed into tourism resources to attract tourists from various regions. Based on theories related to tourism spatial structure, such as the tourism location theory, the central place theory, and the growth pole theory, a study on the tourism spatial structure of the world cultural heritage sites in Quanzhou was conducted. Through kernel density analysis, it is concluded that the world cultural heritage sites in Licheng District and Fengze District of Quanzhou present a dense distribution in a planar form, while those in Jinjiang City and Shishi City show a dense point distribution, and in other counties and cities, they are dispersed in a point pattern. Issues exist such as an imbalanced overall spatial distribution of the heritage sites, insufficient exploitation of tourism resource advantages, inadequate exploration of heritage value and integration of resources, and a relatively low influence of the tourism brand. For this reason, a tourism spatial pattern of “one belt-three zones-six cores” is constructed in the approach of tourism spatial structure. According to this pattern, strategies such as optimizing the spatial layout, perfecting the design of tourism routes, deepening the integration of culture and tourism, strengthening the combination of virtual and real elements, and enhancing regional cooperation are proposed to enhance the cultural value and tourism brand effect of the world cultural heritage sites in Quanzhou and promote the flourishing development of tourism.