This paper highlights the importance of tourism spatial effects. Using the panel data of 135 Wenchuan earthquake-affected counties which from 2008 to 2018, this study employs the dynamic spatial Durbin model to examine the spatial effects of tourism development on post-disaster economic resilience and compares the difference of tourism-growth nexus between severe disaster-affected counties and general disaster-affected counties. The empirical results show that tourism development contributes to economic resilience for general disaster-affected counties, which supports the tourism-led growth hypothesis, whereas there is an inverted U-shape relationship for severe disaster-affected counties. Furthermore, the spatial spillover effects of tourism are insignificant. Plausible explanations of these results are discussed and policy suggestions are provided.

Based on the theoretical framework of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC), this study investigates whether tourism development can decrease air pollution. This study applies the panel smooth transition regression approach and panel data for 2005–2019 from 283 prefecture-level cities in China to examine the nonlinear effect of tourism development on PM2.5, emissions. Our results reveal that the effects of tourism on PM2.5, emissions vary according to the modes of tourist arrivals. At the national level, the effect of tourism on PM2.5 emissions exhibits an inverted-U shape. At the regional level, tourism exerts a U-shaped impact on PM2.5 emissions in eastern China, and tourism is nonlinearly negatively associated with PM2.5 emissions in central and western China. An important theoretical contribution of our study is the proposal and validation of the U-shaped tourism-induced EKC hypothesis.

This study underscores the significance of the nexus between tourism and housing price. Using panel data from 35 major cities in China, it employed the panel smooth transition regression approach to explore the interplay between tourism development and housing prices. Our findings showed a nonlinear tourism–housing price nexus. Specifically, tourism development can raise housing prices in a nonlinear way, indicating that this positive impact varies at different levels of tourism specialisation. Housing prices had an inverted U-shaped effect on tourism development. Several explanations for these empirical results are provided in the Discussion section, along with policy suggestions.

This paper highlights the importance of tourism spatial effects. Using the panel data of 135 Wenchuan earthquake-affected counties which from 2008 to 2018, this study employs the dynamic spatial Durbin model to examine the spatial effects of tourism development on post-disaster economic resilience and compares the difference of tourism-growth nexus between severe disaster-affected counties and general disaster-affected counties. The empirical results show that tourism development contributes to economic resilience for general disaster-affected counties, which supports the tourism-led growth hypothesis, whereas there is an inverted U-shape relationship for severe disaster-affected counties. Furthermore, the spatial spillover effects of tourism are insignificant. Plausible explanations of these results are discussed and policy suggestions are provided.