Decline or Rejuvenation? Efficiency Development of China’s National Scenic Areas

Abstract

The decline is one of the essential issues for developing tourism destinations. The rapid adoption of appropriate policies will enable them to reverse the decline and enter the rejuvenation stage in time. This study advocated establishing an operational evaluation model of tourism efficiency with DEA and the super-SBM model to estimate when China’s mass tourism destinations are in decline and rejuvenation based on the tourism area life cycle (TALC) theory regarding China’s national scenic areas (NSAs) samples. The results show that the development of China’s mass tourism destinations can be divided into three phases, in which there is a clear process of persistent decline and rejuvenation. Different types of NSAs vary in terms of efficiency level and change trends. Human landscape, caves, and wetland and lakes all have distinct phases of persistent decline, but humanistic landscapes show a significant rejuvenation trend. These findings provide an innovative re-interpretation of the TALC model.

Spatiotemporal evolution and mechanisms of tourism efficiency and its decomposition: Evidence from 63 counties in Zhejiang, China

“…As crucial components of China's urban-rural system, counties are the links and bridges connecting cities and rural areas and cardinal public servants, leading urban-rural integration development and rural revitalization. Despite this critical micro level relevance, previous literature on tourism efficiency has focused more on provinces, cities, and certain key areas such as the national scenic areas and forest parks [2,8,9,14,25], neglecting the theoretical necessity and practical significance of conducting spatiotemporal county-level research. In addition, although previous research has explored the various determinants of tourism efficiency, no research has been conducted regarding the spatiotemporal relationships between tourism efficiency and its decomposition and more general mechanisms [8,15,17].…”

“…This study endeavors to accurately investigate and understand the law of county-level economies to promote the high-quality development of county-level economies and associated national strategies. The tourism economy has a leading role in the entire economic system of most counties in China [7][8][9]. Extensive research has been conducted regarding the county-level tourism economy, with rich findings that provide useful guidance and proposed measures for the development and planning of county economies and coordinated regional development [6,[10][11][12].…”

“…Extensive research has been conducted regarding the county-level tourism economy, with rich findings that provide useful guidance and proposed measures for the development and planning of county economies and coordinated regional development [6,[10][11][12]. Overall, previous research has primarily focused on county-level tourism, development, examined the evolutionary trajectories and change mechanisms of different regional economic patterns, or explored the interactive mechanisms between county-level economies and tourism elements using relevant indicators and analyzed the potential of destination development [9,13,14]. With increasing inputs and outputs, tourism efficiency eventually becomes the core competitiveness of county tourism that leads regional economic development.…”

Mapping tourism strategy patterns on tourism area life cycle

“…Other scholars have proposed a three-stage TALC model (Hell and Petrić, 2021), a scalable/fad life cycle (Moss et al , 2008) and a concept renewal cycle (Klein-Hewett, 2021). In addition, the stagnation and decline stages have received much attention in TALC literature (Liu et al , 2016; Xu et al , 2022). Overlapping development, consolidation and decline stages showing cyclical patterns are also discussed (Butler and Dodds, 2022; Mckercher and Wong, 2021).…”

“…The destination development through cycles of evolution indicates the possibility of the destination reaching the stage of stagnation followed by decline. Therefore, strategic interventions are needed to prolong or rejuvenate the life cycle (Butler, 2022; Xu et al , 2022). Tourism strategies are formed within municipalities, tourism departments, or destination management organisations and are the cause and effect of the destination's life cycle (Hall, 2019; Kotler et al , 2021).…”