Measurement and determinants of smart destinations’ sustainable performance: a two-stage analysis using DEA-Tobit model

ABSTRACT

With a two-stage analysis framework, this paper investigates how information communication technology can improve the sustainable performance of smart tourism destinations. It analyzes the impact of online attention (in the form of activity on a search engine) and the level of the digital economy on sustainable performance of smart tourism destinations, measured using an advanced data envelopment analysis model. The empirical results from 50 key smart tourism destinations in China show that: (1) the average value of smart destination performance from 2008 to 2019 is 0.74; (2) both online attention and digital economy have significant positive impacts on sustainable performance; (3) digital economy positively moderates the impact of online attention on sustainable performance; (4) undesirable outputs (air pollution) and tourist satisfaction are two factors that can be considered in measuring the sustainable performance of a destination.

KEYWORDS:

• Tourism sustainability and competitiveness
• online attention
• digital economy
• data envelopment analysis
• panel Tobit model

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China: [Grant Number No. 71971124; 71932005; 72002107]; One Hundred Talents Program of Nankai University: [Grant Number No. 63233171]; Liberal Arts Development Fund of Nankai University: [Grant Number No. ZB21BZ0106].