Résumé
Following the rapid scientific and technological development in this new era of global industrial transformation, the tourism industry has overcome the severe challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic by taking advantage of new development opportunities. Digital technologies, such as big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and fifth-generation mobile communications have released the huge potential for promoting the development of the high-quality cultural tourism integration. Scholars have explored the benefits of developing and improving the quality of cultural tourism integration in addition to how the digital economy can promote the development of cultural tourism integration. Most existing research has regarded the digital economy as a means to promote the development of cultural tourism integration;however, there is relatively little systematic research on the logical mechanism, transmission channels, and practical paths that enable the high-quality development of cultural tourism integration. Therefore, this paper systematically explores the logical mechanism, direct effects, and transmission mechanisms in the digital economy that promote the development of high-quality cultural tourism integration. The study findings open up the "black box"of developing high-quality cultural tourism integration and help to establish its scientific basis in the digital economy. Based on a systematic explanation of how the digital economy enables the high-quality development and transmission of cultural tourism integration through organizational, technological, and product innovation channels, this paper conducts empirical testing using 2011-2020 panel data from 30 Chinese provinces (excluding Tibet, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan of Chian) and obtains three main findings. First, the digital economy has a positive enabling effect on the development of high-quality cultural tourism integration, which has been verified in benchmark regression, instrumental variable regression, and robustness testing. Second, this enabling effect shows regional differences. For example, East China benefits from its relatively well-developed digital economy and can enjoy the dividends from its high-quality cultural tourism destinations. However, although West China has seen rapid growth in its digital economy, the region also shows a trend of increasing marginal effects from its enabling effect, while the digital economy's enabling trend in Central China still needs to be strengthened. Third, by constructing a transmission channel, that is, "digital economy-organization-technology-product innovation-developmental quality of cultural tourism integration", we find that the digital economy can positively promote the development of high-quality cultural tourism integration by regulating transmission channels for innovation, such as organizational, technological, and product innovation. According to the research conclusions, measures to promote the development of high-quality cultural tourism integration in the digital economy should be taken in the following four areas. First, local governments and cultural tourism departments should deepen their development strategies to integrate the digital economy with the real economy and systematically cultivate new drivers for the development of high-quality cultural tourism integration. Second, a digital cultural tourism platform should be built to optimize the value creation mechanism for the development of high-quality cultural tourism integration. Third, regional heterogeneity characteristics should be combined with the digital economy's enabling effect to implement a differentiated digital cultural tourism development strategy. Fourth, organizational, technological, and product innovation advantages should be cultivated to expand the transmission channels for the development of high-quality cultural tourism integration within the digital economy.