Can Inbound Tourism Improve Regional Ecological Efficiency? An Empirical Analysis from China

Inbound tourism has an important impact on regional eco-efficiency. This paper uses the panel data of 31 provincial administrative units in China from 2005 to 2019; uses the improved DEA model to measure the regional ecological efficiency; and uses the panel threshold model to investigate input, output, and efficiency from the perspective of green technology innovation. Then, it explores the heterogeneous effects of inbound tourism on ecological efficiency. This paper finds that cross-border tourism has a positive impact on the ecological efficiency of tourist destinations. However, the degree of influence varies and will be changed with the level of regional green innovation. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) From an overall perspective, inbound tourism has a significant positive effect on ecological efficiency. (2) With the increase in green innovation investment and output, the promotion effect of inbound tourism on regional ecological efficiency first increases and then decreases. (3) The higher the green innovation efficiency, the greater the promotion effect of inbound tourism on ecological efficiency. Therefore, the Chinese government should encourage the development of inbound tourism, adopt greener innovative technologies that are cleaner and more environmentally friendly, and enhance the welfare effect of tourism on green economy.