Cultural and Tourism Integration Based on Environmental Protection: Assessment of High-Quality Development Levels and Identification of Barriers

Abstract

The integration of culture and tourism, grounded in the principles of environmental protection, offers a unique and sustainable approach to both industries. This paper creates a framework of indicators for the cultural and tourism industries. Using inter-provincial data from China (2013-2022) and employing a VIKOR algorithm-optimized coupled coordination model along with an obstacle degree model, it evaluates the integration level of these industries and examines their temporal evolution and key obstacles. The findings reveal notable regional disparities across China's 31 provincial regions. Over time, the synergy of integrating culture and tourism initially rises but then declines. The primary barriers to their high-quality integration are dynamic, chiefly associated with industrial resource value and development potential. The study recommends strengthening the coupling of all nodes in the cultural and tourism industry chain based on the princilpes of environment protection, developing tailor-made policies for regional integration, leveraging digital technology to improve resilience, enhancing infrastructure, and increasing both the value and potential of environmetal resources to foster deeper integration.