The Interactive Relationships between the Tourism-Transportation-Ecological Environment System of Provinces along the ‘Silk Road Economic Belt’ in China

Zhiqiang Zhang, Ling Li and Qiuyu Guo
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Zhiqiang Zhang: College of Management and Economics, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
Ling Li: Business School, Tianjin University of Finance and Economics, Tianjin 300222, China
Qiuyu Guo: Business School, Tianjin University of Finance and Economics, Tianjin 300222, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 5, 1-33

Abstract: Taking nine provinces and cities along the ‘Silk Road Economic Belt’ as an example, this paper constructs an evaluation index system of the coupling coordination degree of the tourism–transportation–ecological environment system (TTE system), analyzes the spatial–temporal evolution and regional differences of the coupling coordination level of the TTE system from 2004 to 2016 using the mean square error index model and the scissor difference model, and uses the EKC curve model to further verify the interactive relationship between the tourism economy and the ecological environment. The results show the following. (1) The comprehensive evaluation values of the tourism subsystem and transportation subsystem are on an overall upward trend and the comprehensive evaluation value of the ecological environment subsystem is in constant flux. (2) The coupling coordination degree of the TTE system generally develops in a good coordination direction, but the conversion rate of the coupling coordination degree of each province is different. (3) Regarding the north–south region divergence, the degree of coupling and coordination within the region is “strong in the south and weak in the north”. (4) The tourism subsystem and the transportation subsystem are interdependent and mutually restrictive. (5) There is a strong correlation between tourism, economic growth, and environmental quality, but in most provinces, the relationship between them does not accord with the inverted U-shaped environmental Kuznets curve.

Keywords: tourism; coupling and coordination; transportation; ecological environment; Silk Road Economic Belt (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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