The influence mechanism of the digital economy on the integration of culture and tourism in the Domestic Section of the Silk Road Economic Belt

The digital economy has become a key driver for promoting the integration of culture and tourism, and how to unleash the enabling effect of the digital economy has emerged as a critical issue to be addressed urgently for the high-quality development of culture and tourism in the new era. Taking the domestic section of the Silk Road Economic Belt as the research object, this paper constructs an indicator system to characterize the spatiotemporal patterns of the digital economy and the integration of culture and tourism, and employs benchmark regression and mediating effect models to analyze the effect of the digital economy in enabling the integration of culture and tourism as well as the mediating transmission mechanism. The results show that: ① From 2013 to 2022, the digital economy level in the domestic section of the Silk Road Economic Belt showed an upward trend, while the development level of the integration of culture and tourism first rose and then declined. Sichuan Province has a higher development level of both the digital economy and the integration of culture and tourism than other provinces, with Qinghai and Ningxia at the lowest level. ② The digital economy has a significant positive effect on the development of the integration of culture and tourism with obvious spatial heterogeneity, and the enabling effect of the digital economy in northwest China is greater than that in southwest China. ③ The analysis of the mediating mechanism indicates that industrial structure upgrading and technological innovation have significant mediating effects in the process of the digital economy promoting the integration of culture and tourism. The research results can provide a theoretical reference for provinces in the domestic section of the Silk Road Economic Belt to improve the efficiency of science and technology-driven innovation and development of the culture and tourism industry according to local conditions under the background of digital intelligence.