Can digital economy improve tourism economic resilience? Evidence from China

The digital economy has become an important driver of resilient growth in tourism economy. Taking China as the research object, it is found that the digital economy not only has a positive spatial spillover effect on tourism economic resilience but also mitigates the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The heterogeneity test shows that the digital economy has a spatial diffusion effect on tourism economic resilience in the eastern, western, and southern regions and a spatial siphoning effect on the non-pilot areas of the National Smart Tourism Pilot Policy. The result of influence mechanism test proves that the digital economy can contribute to the tourism economic resilience by stimulating tourism fiscal expenditure, guiding tourism industry cluster, and increasing tourism consumption. The findings of the study have important policy implications for China and other countries around the world in using the digital economy to promote sustainable tourism development.