Abstract: The exploration of spatial distribution rules of poor villages in Wulingyuan District, Zhangjiajie City aims at accelerating the poverty alleviation process and the pro-poor tourism development. Three methods of overlay analysis, buffer analysis and density analysis in GIS spatial analysis were applied to study the spatial distribution rules of 31 poor villages in this region based on data of early 2016. The result indicates that: the scenic spots and township governments have strong radiation effect, the number of poor villages increased along with the distance away from the scenic spots and township governments; poor villages are mainly distributed along the ways to the scenic spots; however, the arterial traffic have weak effect on poverty alleviation; poor villages are concentrated in places with weak economy while scattered in those areas with better economy. Therefore, the targeted poverty alleviation in tourism regions should focus on the leading and radiation role of the scenic spots, improving the infrastructure construction and enhancing the function of government agencies.