Mechanism and heterogeneity analysis of industrial tourism resource development on the high-quality development of cities in the Third Front regions

This study systematically investigates the impact of industrial tourism resource development to provide strategic guidance for achieving high-quality urban development in the Third Front regions. From a spatial perspective, it constructs a theoretical framework that elucidates the mechanism through which industrial tourism resource development influences high-quality urban development in these regions. Subsequently, spatial econometric models are applied to empirically assess the direct effects and spatial spillover effects of industrial tourism resource development on high-quality urban development during 2011-2022. The results reveal that: (1) Industrial tourism resource development in the Third Front regions demonstrates an upward trend. Nevertheless, the overall level of development remains relatively low. From a spatial perspective, the development of industrial tourism resources is distinctly characterized by a strong influence from cities with higher administrative status. (2) The level of high-quality urban development in the Third Front regions has steadily increased year by year, and the overall absolute disparity in regional high-quality development has decreased. However, the gap in high-quality development between cities in the Third Front regions has widened, giving rise to a paradoxical situation: overall absolute disparities show a risk of narrowing, while relative disparities between cities are becoming entrenched. From a spatial perspective, high-quality urban development in the Third Front regions exhibits a pattern of higher levels in the southeast and lower levels in the southwest. (3) Industrial tourism resource development directly contributes to the enhancement of high-quality development in local cities. However, industrial tourism resource development does not exhibit significant spatial spillover effects on the high-quality development of adjacent cities. Meanwhile, industrial tourism resource development exhibits varying degrees of direct influence across the dimensions of high-quality urban development, ranked in a descending order as follows: innovation-driven development, livelihood development, green development, and economic development. (4) The impact of industrial tourism resource development on high-quality urban development in the Third Front regions exhibits pronounced regional heterogeneity. The direct effects are more substantial in the western region compared to the central region, and in the northern region relative to the southern region. Notably, industrial tourism resource development in both the western and southern regions generates negative spatial spillover effects on the high-quality development of neighboring cities. In contrast, the eastern region is characterized by indirect effects that are significantly stronger than direct effects.