The interactive relationship between ecological well-being performance and tourism economic development in major tourism cities in China

Abstract

With the advent of mass tourism, the tourism industry has experienced unprecedented expansion in scale. The relationship between the tourism industry and ecology and society is a key issue in promoting sustainable development of tourist destinations. However, existing research has focused more on the relationship between ecological environment protection and tourism economic development, while neglecting the impact on human well-being in this process. Therefore, based on the concept of ecological welfare, this study explored the coupling coordination degree (CCD) and interaction relationship between the tourism economy development (TED) and ecological wel-being performance (EWP) of 58 major tourism cities in China, providing a more inclusive theoretical perspective and enriching the theory of sustainable tourism and ecological tourism. The results show that: (1) from 2004 to 2019, the EWP and TED of major tourism cities in China showed a steady upward trend. The improvement level of TED was more significant than that of EWP. (2) The CCD between EWP and TED of most tourism cities in China has been improved to varying degrees during the period from 2004 to 2019, especially in many inland tourism cities. (3) There is a dynamic interaction relationship between EWP and TED in major tourism cities in China during the research period, but a virtuous interaction has not yet been formed between the two. The results of this study can also provide practical insights for the sustainable development of urban tourism industry.