Abstract:
Promoting the integration of culture and tourism industries is conducive to enhancing a nations soft power and meeting the increasingly growing spiritual and cultural demands of its people. By utilizing coupled coordination models, priority models for tourism development, and exploratory spatial data analysis, this study assesses the spatiotemporal evolution patterns of the cultural and tourism industry integration level in 11 provinces and cities along the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2008 to 2022. Quantile regression is also employed to explore the influencing factors of the coupled coordination index. Findings indicate that:1)From 2008 to 2022, the average level of cultural and tourism industry development along the Yangtze River Economic Belt exhibited a cyclical pattern of rise and fall, divided into five phases with the years 2012, 2013, 2019, and 2020 as turning points. Spatially, the development level of the cultural and tourism industry generally followed the pattern of being higher in the eastern region, followed by the central region, and then the western region. 2)The mean value of the coordination degree of the culture and tourism industry from 2008 to 2022 showed an overall trend of fluctuating increase. Although the overall coordination level was relatively low, the level structure gradually improved over time. There were significant interprovincial differences in coordination values, with the gap between high and low values gradually narrowing. 3)Different provinces and cities exhibited various types of spatial clustering in the development of cultural and tourism industry integration. HH(highhigh) agglomeration areas were primarily represented by the eastern regions with Shanghai and Zhejiang as examples, but their positive spillover effects needed enhancement. LL(lowlow) agglomeration areas were mainly represented by western regions with Guizhou as an example, and breaking the “Matthew effect” stalemate is necessary. 4)Infrastructure, human capital, industrial structure, and technological innovation all had positive effects on the cultural and tourism industry integration level along the Yangtze River Economic Belt at different quantile points. However, market supply exerted inhibitory effects, and policy systems did not pass the significance test.
