Research on the Evaluation of Coordinated Development of Tourism–Economy–Ecological Environment along the Silk Road Economic Belt

Abstract

Tourism is currently one of the important development industries in many countries and regions, and a healthy environment is an important basis and carrier for the sustainable development of the tourism economy. Ensuring a harmonious relationship between tourism, the economy, and the environment has become one of the keys to achieving sustainable development of tourism destinations. Based on panel data on tourism, the economy, and the environment from nine provinces along the Silk Road Economic Belt from 2015 to 2019, this study has built a comprehensive evaluation index system of the tourism–economy–ecological environment (TEE). The entropy evaluation method, comprehensive evaluation model, and coupling and coordination degree model were used for quantitative analysis of the coordination development level and for assessing the spatial–temporal evolution patterns of coupling coordination for the TEE system in nine provinces along the Silk Road Economic Belt. The results show that the value of the TEE system is generally on the rise. Still, the growth rate of tourism and the economy subsystem is significantly higher than that of the environment subsystem. The coupling coordinating the development of the TEE system shows an increasing trend with a high degree of coupling. The coordination degree is relatively low, with significant gradient differences and apparent polarization. The main constraint to the coordinated development of the Silk Road Economic Belt is tourism and the economy.