# Synergizing High-Quality Tourism Development and Digital Economy: A Coupling Coordination Analysis in Chinese Prefecture-Level Cities

## TL;DR

This study explores how tourism and digital economy development interact in Chinese cities, finding regional imbalances and key drivers for better coordination.

## Contribution

The paper introduces a coupling coordination analysis and SHAP-based drivers to evaluate the synergy between tourism and digital economy in Chinese cities.

## Key findings

- High-quality tourism development lags behind the digital economy in Chinese cities from 2010 to 2019.
- Coupling coordination degree shows significant regional disparities, with the northwest region being the most imbalanced.
- Consumption and tertiary sector factors drive coordination in developed cities, while labor capital influences it in the northwest.

## Abstract

The rapid development of the digital economy (DE) provides a new driving force for high-quality tourism development (HQTD). How to coordinate HQTD and DE is an urgent issue to be resolved. In this study, the coupling coordination degree (CCD) between HQTD and DE in Chinese prefecture-level cities is analysed using the CCD model, and the factors driving CCD are identified by Shapley additive explanations (SHAP). The results show that (1) Chinese city-level HQTD and DE show a rising trend from 2010 to 2019. The national average rises from 0.1807 and 0.2434 in 2010 to 0.2318 and 0.4113 in 2019, respectively, with HQTD’s development lagging noticeably behind DE. (2) CCD exhibits marked inter-regional disparities and intra-regional clustering. The northwest region has the lowest values, with many cities’ CCD below 0.5, indicating an imbalanced status. In 2019, all cities in the eastern region are in a balanced status, with Shanghai exceeding 0.8. (3) Total social retail sales per capita and percentage of tertiary sector are the key drivers of CCD; economic development and urbanisation rate exhibit a non-linear relationship with CCD. The CCD in developed cities in the east and north is driven by consumption, whereas the northwest region is primarily influenced by factors related to labour capital. Based on these conclusions, some policy implications are provided for the synergistic development of HQTD and DE.