Can regional revitalization policies boost tourism growth in underdeveloped areas? Evidence from China’s revolutionary base areas

Regional policies and support represent essential factors facilitating regional tourism development. The paper constructs a difference-in-differences (DID) model design to explore the impact of a regional revitalization policy, the policy on Several Opinions on Supporting the Revitalization and Development of Gannan and Other Former Central Soviet Areas , on tourism development in the relevant area. Treating this implementation as a quasi-natural experiment, we show that the policy significantly contributes to tourism development. We further identify the mechanism of the policy-tourism causal relationship through the mediation effect model. Results indicated that the regional revitalization policy fosters tourism development by promoting economic growth and transportation accessibility. Lastly, province-based heterogeneity analysis recognized a stronger policy effect in Guangdong and Fujian Provinces, which witnessed higher economic levels. Several implications were provided based on the empirical evidence.