Spatiotemporal Evolution of Tourism Eco-Efficiency in Major Tourist Cities in China

Tourism development consumes ecological resources to varying extents while bringing economic benefits; tourism eco-efficiency (TEE) assessment has thus become an area of major focus in destination sustainability research. This paper intends to examine the spatiotemporal characteristics and driving factors of eco-efficiency changes in 36 tourist cities on the Chinese mainland from 2010 to 2019, using a super-slacks-based measure (SBM) model, the data envelopment analysis (DEA)-Malmquist index, spatial correlation, and regression analysis. In contrast to the previous work, this work explores TEE among major tourist cities in China by considering the undesirable outputs of carbon emissions and sewage. The results show that (1) the TEE of most cities during the study period was low but increasing; there were significant spatial differences among different cities, and the eco-efficiency of the same city fluctuated over time. (2) The TEE was globally uncorrelated, but low-eco-efficiency areas were adjacent to each other and formed agglomerates, enhancing the negative spillover effect. (3) Despite fluctuations, the Malmquist indices exhibited positive trends, which resulted from the technical progress index rather than the technical efficiency index. (4) Socioeconomic development significantly promoted TEE. This research reveals the evolutionary law of TEE on the urban scale and explores the impact of social and economic development on TEE, which can provide a reference for policymaking and enrich research on destination sustainability.