In an era where sustainable development within the tourism sector is becoming increasingly critical, recent research has shed new light on the complex interaction of environmental, organizational, and technological factors that shape tourism eco-efficiency (TEE) across China. This comprehensive study, spanning a decade from 2011 to 2020, delves into how transportation infrastructure, economic development, government support, human resources, and innovation collectively influence TEE, revealing intricate patterns of growth, decline, and cyclical changes.
The environmental dimension, characterized by a strong cointegration between transportation convenience (TC) and economic development (ED), demonstrated intriguing dynamics in its impact on tourism eco-efficiency. Transportation convenience initially exerted a growing influence on TEE, peaking around 2017. However, from 2017 onwards, this influence waned. Analysts attribute this trend to diminishing returns in tourism transportation, where further improvements yield progressively reduced benefits. Furthermore, the unprecedented disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 significantly impacted transportation networks, further dampening their positive effect on tourism efficiency.
Economic development displayed a cyclical yet overall declining impact on TEE during the study period. Initially, from 2011 to 2014, economic growth positively influenced tourism eco-efficiency, followed by a phase of downturn between 2014 and 2018, oscillating between advancements and setbacks. The most pronounced decline was observed from 2018 to 2020, a period marked by mounting global uncertainties and structural economic shifts. This cycle suggests that economic development’s role in optimizing eco-efficiency is not linear but sensitive to broader market and policy fluctuations.
Turning to the organizational dimension, which intriguingly illustrated a low level of cointegration between government support (GS) and human resources (HR), distinct trends emerged. Government support consistently trended upward, reflecting a sustained commitment to enhancing the tourism business ecosystem. This growth, however, was punctuated by a dip in 2017 followed by recovery, likely corresponding to shifting governmental priorities or policy recalibrations. Enhanced government interventions, including policy making and funding allocations, have historically facilitated reductions in transaction costs and enabled better regulatory environments conducive to tourism efficiency. Yet, the momentum faltered again toward the end of the decade, coinciding with external shocks such as the pandemic.
Human resources, as a critical component of the organizational domain, followed a cyclical yet decreasing trajectory in its influence on TEE. Between 2011 and 2015, the impact capability declined, briefly rebounded in 2016, then steadily decreased through 2020. This fluctuating pattern reflects the inherent volatility of the tourism labor market, shaped by profit-driven incentives and economic cycles. Such instability in talent availability and market saturation highlights the challenges in maintaining a robust and consistent human capital base for sustainable eco-efficient tourism development.
Technological factors, featuring a high cointegration between regional innovation ability (RI) and digitalization level (DL), painted a multifaceted picture of influence on TEE. Regional innovation capability initially rose, with notable fluctuations from 2011 through 2018, before entering a phase of decline marked by instability between 2018 and 2020. One explanation offered is that rapid, cutting-edge innovations occasionally outpace the tourism sector’s ability to assimilate them effectively, resulting in a mismatch between advanced technologies and industry needs. Additionally, innovation expenditures may crowd out other essential public infrastructure investments vital for tourism growth.
Digitalization levels exhibited a rhythmic rise and fall pattern over the analyzed period. The proliferation of digital tools and platforms markedly enhanced market information sharing, consumer engagement, and operational efficiencies. However, the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted this trajectory. The closure of businesses and widespread operational restrictions led to cutbacks in digital investments, impeding progress in digital integration and diminishing digitalization’s positive contributions to tourism eco-efficiency.
A pivotal segment of the research was the investigation of interactions between paired influencing factors and their compounded effects on spatial TEE distribution. Interaction detection techniques revealed that interplays between factors were predominantly nonlinear and exhibited temporal instability, reflecting the complex, dynamic nature of tourism eco-efficiency regulation. Specifically, combinations involving transportation convenience and economic development (TC ∩ ED) were the most potent and frequent drivers throughout the decade, exhibiting high explanatory power in years such as 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2018.
The significance of the TC ∩ ED interaction lies in its comprehensive influence on the tourism industry’s spatial structuring. Economic development levels dictate market quality through pricing and competition mechanisms that encourage resource concentration in efficient enterprises and geographic zones. Simultaneously, robust transportation infrastructure facilitates the smooth flow of production factors and reduces market entry barriers, fostering technology spillovers and innovation diffusion. As a result, this synergy promotes a transition from expansive, resource-intensive tourism models to more intensive, optimized, and eco-efficient ones—a crucial step for sustainable industry advancement.
Beyond the dominant TC ∩ ED combination, the study acknowledges the nuanced roles of other pairs of factors, although these were less frequently significant. The interaction patterns demonstrate that tourism eco-efficiency is not merely an outcome of isolated elements but rather the product of multifaceted and often nonlinear interdependencies. This understanding challenges simplistic, one-dimensional policy approaches and advocates for integrated strategies that address multiple determinants in concert.
The researchers conducted rigorous robustness checks to validate their findings. By randomly removing subsets of data (approximately three provinces, or one-tenth of samples) and recalculating interaction metrics, they confirmed that q-values—quantitative measures of explanatory power—remained within acceptable error margins, ranging typically between 1.45% to 7.10%. Further tests involving random selection of years for recalculation yielded errors between 0.12% and 9.54%, reinforcing the stability and reliability of the results despite underlying data variability.
These robustness analyses underscore the resilience of the conclusions drawn and support their applicability in guiding regional policy formulation for tourism eco-efficiency enhancement. The insights are especially pertinent for stakeholders aiming to leverage infrastructure investments, economic policies, and technological innovation to foster sustainable tourism development that balances growth with environmental stewardship.
Crucially, the study situates its contributions within the broader discourse on how to decouple tourism growth from environmental degradation. It highlights that optimizing eco-efficiency does not merely entail technological upgrades or financial infusions but requires a holistic understanding of how factors interact to produce synergistic or antagonistic effects spatially and temporally. This multidimensional perspective invites future research to explore these dynamics in other geographic and economic contexts, potentially offering comparative insights and transferable best practices.
The COVID-19 pandemic emerges as a significant disruptor in this narrative, exposing vulnerabilities across transport, organizational, and technological realms. Its impacts not only curtailed immediate tourism activities but also reshaped investment priorities and innovation trajectories. Recognizing and addressing these disruptions are vital for resilience building in tourism systems and for ensuring stability in eco-efficiency gains amid future uncertainties.
In summary, this expansive investigation into China’s tourism eco-efficiency over a transformative decade reveals that sustained improvements hinge on a delicate balance and interaction among environmental infrastructure, market dynamics, governmental support, human capital, and technological innovation. The findings accentuate the need for synchronized policy efforts that optimize these interactions to foster a tourism industry that is not only economically vibrant but also environmentally responsible and socially sustainable.
Governments, industry players, and researchers are encouraged to harness these insights to devise multifaceted strategies that account for nonlinear factor interactions and evolve adaptively in response to changing conditions. Embracing such complexity could unlock significant advances in the spatial and temporal efficiency of tourism, ultimately contributing to the global agenda for sustainable development.
Article References:
Wang, C., Zheng, Q., Wu, F. et al. Measurement of tourism eco-efficiency, spatial distribution, and influencing factors in China. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 12, 1084 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-04914-9
