Coordination effect and interactive response between the tourism development and urban-rural integration in China

Exploring the coordination effect and interactive response between tourism development and urban-rural integration holds significant theoretical and practical value for establishing an integrated development pattern where urban and rural areas mutually promote each other’s prosperity and coexist harmoniously. The entropy method is used to measure the level of tourism development and urban-rural integration in 31 provinces in China from 2010 to 2022, the coupling model is used to explore the coordination effect of the two systems, and the kernel density estimation and exploratory spatial-temporal data analysis (ESTDA) are used to reveal the spatial-temporal dynamics of the level of the two systems’ coupling and coordination. On this basis, the panel vector autoregression (PVAR) model is used to analyze the interactive response relationship between the two systems. The study found that: ① the coupling and coordination level of tourism development and urban-rural integration has improved over time, and there is no polarization phenomenon. The level of coupling and coordination between the two systems shows a spatial distribution pattern of "east > central > west", with strong non-equilibrium and spatial spillover effects. ② There is a significant positive spatial correlation between the coupling and coordination levels of the two systems, and the spatial agglomeration trend is gradually weakened over time; the local spatial structure and direction of dependence are relatively stable, presenting significant transfer inertia and path dependence characteristics. ③ Tourism development and urban-rural integration affect and link each other, showing a significant interactive response relationship.