The tourism economy is regarded as an effective way to realize regional sustainable development. Hence, it is of great significance to explore whether and how tourism economy can alleviate regional carbon emission intensity. To this end, a structural equation model (SEM) reflecting the multiple pathways of the carbon emission reduction effect of tourism economy was constructed based on 92 tourism-dependent cities in China, and the existence and formation mechanism of the carbon emission reduction effect of tourism economy were empirically tested. The main findings are as follows: (1) The tourism economy has a significant carbon emission reduction effect in China. Although the direct impact of tourism economy on carbon emission intensity is significantly positive, the indirect impact is significantly negative and stronger than the direct impact. (2) The carbon emission reduction effect of tourism economy presents multiple pathways characteristics. There are single intermediary pathways such as Tourism Economy → Environmental Regulation → Carbon Emission Intensity, Tourism Economy → Opening-Up → Carbon Emission Intensity, and dual intermediary pathways such as Tourism Economy → Opening-Up → Industrial Development → Carbon Emission Intensity, Tourism Economy → Opening-Up → Innovation Capacity → Carbon Emission Intensity. (3) The formation mechanism of the carbon emission reduction effect of tourism economy presents obvious spatial heterogeneity.

Exploring the relationship between the tourism carbon environment and high-quality economic development in the Yellow River Basin is a national strategy to meet the realistic requirements of the goal of “Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutral”. It is also conducive to the realization of “Ecological Protection and High-quality Development Strategy in the Yellow River Basin”. Therefore, based on the calculation of tourism’s carbon emission efficiency and the evaluation of the tourism economy’s high-quality development, the interaction mechanism between them was observed. The results showed that, firstly, the tourism carbon emission efficiency of the Yellow River Basin increased slightly from 2010 to 2019, with an average of 0.9782, which was at a medium efficiency level. Secondly, the tourism economy’s high-quality development level is rising, and the speed of development is fast, especially in western provinces. Thirdly, there is a parasitic relationship between the two, but in each province, there is a positive or negative asymmetric symbiotic relationship. The tourism economy’s high-quality development has a greater impact on the efficiency of tourism’s carbon emissions. Fourthly, energy and capital input, as well as coordination and innovation factors, are important driving factors of the symbiosis between the two, among which the role of labor input was gradually revealed, and the impact factor experienced the changing process of “sharing-coordination-innovation”. This study provides a theoretical framework and evaluation methods for evaluating and analyzing the relationship between tourism’s carbon emission efficiency and the tourism economy’s high-quality development, and it provides data support and policy suggestions for the real development.

Achieving customer satisfaction is an important goal of the high-quality development (HQD) of the hotel industry. The purpose of this study is to summarize the spatial distribution characteristics and influencing factors of the HQD of the hotel industry to better help improve hotel customer satisfaction and realize the HQD of the hotel industry. Taking Sanya as an example, this study applied kernel density analysis, grid analysis and a geographically weighted regression (GWR) model to reveal the distribution characteristics and influencing factors of the HQD of the hotel industry. The research results show that (1) from 2010 to 2020, both budget hotels and luxury hotels showed an increasing trend year by year and the degree of spatial agglomeration was continuously strengthened. (2) The overall HQD of the hotel industry in Sanya is at a medium to high level, but the development between different regions is unbalanced. The HQD level of the hotel industry in the eastern part of the city is better than that in the western region. (3) There are significant differences in the HQD level and its spatial distribution characteristics of budget hotels and luxury hotels. (4) Hardware facilities, price levels, market popularity and traffic conditions have a positive impact on the HQD level of the hotel industry, while hotel scale and business prosperity have a negative impact on the HQD level of the hotel industry. The public service level does not pass the significance test. The conclusions of this study can provide theoretical reference for the decision-making of HQD of urban tourism.

The healthy development of the ecosystem and tourism in destinations plays an essential role in sustainable development. Taking Shennongjia as an example, we analyzed the spatial–temporal variation in the ecosystem services value (ESV) and investigated the impacts of tourism on ESV and their spatial heterogeneity using the geographically weighted regression (GWR) and boosting regression tree (BRT) models. The results showed that (1) the types of ecosystem services (ESs) were dominated by climate regulation and biodiversity. The ESV increased from 3.358 billion yuan to 8.910 billion yuan from 2005 to 2018 and showed significant spatial divergence, maintaining a long-term distribution pattern of high in the center and low at the border. (2) The GWR and BRT results showed that the Distance to Scenic Spots (DSS) and the Distance to Residential Areas (DRA) are important factors influencing ESV, with the Distance to Hotels (DH) and the Distance to Roads (DR) having a relatively weak influence on ESV. (3) The influencing factors presented positive and negative effects, and the degree of influence has spatial heterogeneity. The DRA and DH inhibited the increase in ESV in nearby areas, while DR was the driving factor for increasing ESV. The assessment results of DSS vary according to the models.

Human resources is a crucial factor in supporting the development of tourism as a labour-intensive industry. This research enhances the understanding of China’s tourism education associated with the spread of COVID-19 and its implications for tourism recovery. Initial findings imply that: COVID-19 had a profound lagging negative effect on the intention to apply for tourism-related majors of examinees, which is severe challenging for tourism recovery, and the impact was more pronounced in typical tourism-dependent cities than in non-tourism-dependent cities. The MICE Economics and Management was least affected, while the Sports Tourism was most affected.