Analysis of Tourism Economic Resilience and Its Influencing Factors in the Pearl River Delta, China
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Abstract
The Pearl River Delta has become a key engine of China's economic growth. The region's rapid urbanization has driven the robust development of its tourism economy, yet it also faces numerous social challenges. The most prominent of these challenges is the gap between central and peripheral cities, particularly in terms of capabilities when responding to crises. This study combines the entropy method and the obstacle degree model to assess the resilience of the tourism economy in the Pearl River Delta, analyzing data from 2003 to 2022 across 18 indicators in three dimensions: resistance and recovery, adaptation and adjustment, and innovation and transformation. Findings reveal that the core cities exhibit relatively strong and improving tourism economic resilience, whereas peripheral cities remain significantly constrained—particularly in the dimension of innovation and transformation—highlighting the persistent disparities in resilience across the region. Key barriers identified include the number of travel agencies, education expenditure, fiscal expenditure, and the number of people employed in tourism. The study highlights that enhancing tourism economic resilience in the Pearl River Delta requires targeted structural interventions, including promoting regionally balanced development, fostering innovation in peripheral cities, strengthening the role of travel agencies, aligning educational investment with labor market needs, leveraging fiscal expenditure, and improving workforce quality.
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