Spatial-Temporal Differences and Influencing Factors of Tourism Eco-Efficiency in China’s Three Major Urban Agglomerations Based on the Super-EBM Model

On the background of climate change, studying tourism eco-efficiency of cities is of great significance to promote the green development of tourism. Based on the panel data of the three major urban agglomerations in China’s Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, and Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region from 2008 to 2017, this paper constructed an evaluation index system and measured the tourism eco-efficiency of 63 cities by using a hybrid distance model called Super-EBM (epsilon-based measure). We compared the spatial and temporal evolution characteristics of tourism eco-efficiency in the three urban agglomerations. Furthermore, the internal factors influencing tourism eco-efficiency were explored through input–output redundancy, and the external factors were analyzed by a panel regression model. The results indicate that the tourism eco-efficiency of the three urban agglomerations in China generally shows a decreasing-rising-declining trend. Among them, the Yangtze River Delta has the highest eco-efficiency, followed by the Pearl River Delta, and the lowest in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region. Moreover, there is a certain gap within each urban agglomeration. The redundancy input of labor and capital is the main internal cause of low eco-efficiency. Among the external factors, the status of the tourism industry and the level of urbanization have a positive effect on eco-efficiency, while the level of tourism development, technological innovation and investment have a negative impact on it. In the future, we must attach great importance to the development quality and overall benefit value of the tourism industry so as to achieve green and balanced development of the three major urban agglomerations in eastern China. Based on the above conclusions, this paper puts forward targeted policy implications to improve the tourism eco-efficiency of cities.