Empirical Evidence on the Synergistic Development of Informatization, Technological Progress, and the Tourism Industry

Background: In the context of the deep integration of the tourism industry with informatization and technological progress, exploring the mutual influences and dynamic interactions among tourism development, technological progress, and informatization holds significant value for achieving low-carbon sustainable development goals. Methods: Based on provincial statistical data from China between 2008 and 2020, this study employs a panel vector autoregression (PVAR) model to analyze the interactions, characteristics, and trends among informatization, technological progress, and tourism industry development. Results: First, there exists a complex dynamic interaction mechanism among informatization, technological progress, and tourism development. Informatization significantly promotes technological progress and tourism development, while technological progress provides technical support for both informatization and tourism. However, the direct impact of tourism on informatization is relatively limited, with a more pronounced effect on technological progress. Second, impulse response analysis reveals the dynamic adjustment paths among variables: tourism development responds strongly to shocks from informatization and technological progress in the initial stages, followed by gradual attenuation and stabilization. Similarly, informatization shows a strong initial response to shocks from technological progress, which then gradually diminishes and stabilizes. When responding to shocks from tourism, informatization exhibits an inverted U-shaped curve, first rising and then declining. Technological progress also demonstrates an inverted U-shaped curve in response to shocks from tourism and informatization. Third, variance decomposition shows that in the early stages, the fluctuations of system variables are primarily self-explanatory, while dynamic interactions among variables emerge and stabilize over the long term. This study provides policy insights for governments and industry stakeholders on enhancing tourism development, informatization, and technologicalprogress under the framework of sustainable development.