Culture–Tourism Integration for Sustainable Regional Development: Spatial Dynamics and Spillovers in the Yangtze River Economic Belt

Abstract

Coordinated development of the cultural and tourism industries can support regional development by improving resource-use efficiency, strengthening interregional linkages, and enhancing industrial resilience. Against this background, this study examines the evolution and spatial mechanisms of culture–tourism integration in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) using panel data from 11 provinces and municipalities from 2010 to 2023. A coupling coordination degree model, global and local spatial autocorrelation, and a two-way fixed-effects Spatial Durbin Model are employed to analyze spatiotemporal dynamics and regional spillover effects. The results show that culture–tourism integration improved overall but remained at a relatively low coordination level, with clear spatial disparities across the YREB. The spatial agglomeration of culture–tourism integration remained significantly positive during 2010–2020, weakened markedly and became statistically insignificant in 2021–2022, and recovered in 2023. Significant negative spatial dependence indicates that interprovincial competition outweighed regional coordination. Infrastructure and policy support were important local drivers, while infrastructure and ecological conditions generated relatively stable positive cross-regional effects. Cultural resources, however, produced negative spillovers, and technological innovation had not yet been effectively translated into integration gains. These findings suggest that stronger regional coordination, more efficient cultural resource conversion, and differentiated development strategies can further promote culture–tourism integration and provide support for balanced regional development.