Racing toward tourism sustainability: A spatial-temporal analysis

Fang Zhao, Shaheem Sayed Merajuddin, Fanqi Liu, Yi Xu and Yun Zhang

International Review of Financial Analysis, 2025, vol. 105, issue C

Abstract: Sustainable tourism industry development necessitates comprehensive consideration of the interactions between economic, social, and environmental dimensions. Such a holistic approach is crucial for the tourism sector to effectively meet travelers' diverse demands, foster industry growth, mitigate environmental risks, and advance long-term sustainability. China has proactively responded to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals through robust, top–down political mobilization, effective environmental monitoring, and protection mechanisms. As the second largest global tourism market, China has strategically aligned its tourism sector objectives with sustainable development imperatives. By integrating ecological civilization into the broader economic development agenda, China offers valuable and actionable insights for promoting other developing nations' green economic growth. This study uses publicly available yearbook data to examine the impact of ecological governance on sustainable tourism development from 2011 to 2022, employing a spatial analysis to examine the heterogeneous effects of ecological governance across regions. Findings reveal that China has made substantial advancements in sustainable tourism development and ecological governance over the past decade, with notable spatial alignment. Moreover, the results demonstrate that ecological governance has a significant positive impact on sustainable tourism development, with marked spatial heterogeneity. Specifically, the promotional effect of ecological governance is more pronounced in regions with well-developed ecological tourism, abundant tourism resource endowments, limited ethnic tourism features, and less prominent exotic tourism. Finally, this study offers strategic recommendations and policy insights into how ecological governance can be leveraged to further enhance sustainable tourism development, contributing to theoretical discourse and practical application in the field.

Keywords: Ecological governance; Sustainable tourism development; Ecological tourism; Tourism resource endowment; Ethnic tourism features; Exotic tourism styles (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:finana:v:105:y:2025:i:c:s1057521925005356

DOI: 10.1016/j.irfa.2025.104448

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