Evaluation of Cultural and Tourism Industry Integration and Its Driving Mechanism in the Northeast Border Regions of China

The integration and coordinated development of culture and tourism industry is essential for realizing high-quality development in China's northeast border regions. To assess this integration and driving mechanism, an evaluation index system has been established to quantify the coupling and coordination degree of these sectors at the provincial level from 2013 to 2022. Meanwhile, ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis can identify driving factors and its mechanism. The findings indicate that, despite fluctuation and uneven development, the integration of cultural and tourism industry has generally demonstrated a gradual upward trend, remaining predominantly in preliminary-stage development. The degree of coupling and coordination is influenced by four primary factors: economic development level, transportation infrastructure quality, industrial structure optimization and advancement in the digital economy. The outbreak of the global public health crisis has temporarily weakened the impacts of economic development, transportation infrastructure, and the digital economy on the integration process. However, as economic recovery continues to unfold, these factors have been anticipated to exert a sustained and significant influence on facilitating further integration and coordinated development within the cultural and tourism industry thereby accelerating high-quality development in the Northeast border regions. Based on these conclusions, this study proposes measures that focus on enhancing the integration and development of culture and tourism industry from three perspectives, namely integrated model innovation, transportation network enhancement, and industrial structure optimization.