Structural obstacles and the mediated efficiency paradox: A DEA-Tobit exploration of the heterogeneous role of tourism intention in China's tourism enterprises

This study examines how environmental structures and tourism intention jointly influence the operating efficiency of tourism enterprises in China, using travel agencies as a case study. Employing self-determination theory (SDT) and Maslow's hierarchy of needs (MHN) as explanatory frameworks, we interpret structural obstacles as factors that erode the socioeconomic foundations of "tourism rights", thereby suppressing aggregate tourism demand. The results from the data envelopment analysis (DEA) and Tobit regression reveal a mediated efficiency paradox: structural obstacles do not influence enterprise operating efficiency through a uniform pathway but rather exert their effects via the heterogeneous role of tourism intention. Specifically, tourism intention acts as a full mediator of foreign trade and consumption structures-it transmits structural constraints through suppressed tourism demand. For industrial structure, by contrast, its impact is primarily direct, functioning as a "supra-motivational constraint" that bypasses the psychological channel to directly reshape the economic conditions for tourism viability. The nonsignificant impact of the urban-rural structure highlights the unrealized potential of urbanization, where demographic shifts have failed to translate into effective tourism demand. These structural obstacles systematically undermine the socioeconomic conditions constituting "tourism rights", thereby suppressing aggregate intention and operating efficiency. Theoretically, this study bridges macrostructural and microbehavioral paradigms through the lens of "tourism rights", demonstrating how extrinsic constraints interact with intrinsic motivations. Practically, it advocates for structural reforms supplemented by rights-based policies to enhance tourism industry resilience, offering insights for emerging economies undergoing similar structural transitions.