Provincial Differences in Cultural–Tourism Integration Efficiency and Their Driving Mechanisms in China

Background and Objectives: The integrated development of culture and tourism has become a central pillar of China’s strategy for promoting high-quality economic growth, industrial upgrading, and cultural soft power. Beyond its contribution to output expansion, cultural–tourism integration embodies the efficient reallocation of public resources, the coordination of cultural services and tourism markets, and the pursuit of balanced regional development. Despite its strategic importance, substantial disparities persist in the efficiency with which Chinese provinces transform fiscal, institutional, and human resources into cultural and tourism outputs. Existing empirical studies have provided valuable insights into cultural–tourism efficiency, yet many remain limited in scope, focusing on single regions or relying on isolated analytical techniques. Moreover, the structural sources of regional inequality and the mechanisms through which socio-economic and policy factors shape efficiency outcomes have not been systematically examined at the national level. Against this backdrop, this study aims to assess provincial differences in cultural–tourism integration efficiency across mainland China, to identify the structural sources of regional disparities, and to uncover the key driving mechanisms underlying these differences within a unified analytical framework. Methodology: Using cross-sectional data for 31 provincial-level administrative regions in mainland China for the year 2023, this study adopts a three-step empirical strategy. First, an input-oriented Banker–Charnes–Cooper data envelopment analysis (BCC-DEA) model under variable returns to scale is employed to measure provincial cultural–tourism integration efficiency, focusing on the transformation of fiscal inputs, institutional capacity, and human resources into cultural service provision and tourism outputs. Second, to examine regional disparities and their structural sources, population-weighted Theil indices are calculated for a set of per-capita cultural and tourism indicators, allowing overall inequality to be decomposed into interregional and intraregional components. Third, drawing on the Ritchie–Crouch destination competitiveness framework, a driving-factor indicator system encompassing demand conditions, environmental foundations, policy support, and supporting elements is constructed. An entropy-weighted Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) approach is then applied to evaluate the relative importance and comprehensive influence of these driving factors across provinces. To enhance robustness and comparability, all indicators are subject to appropriate preprocessing, including winsorization and standardization where necessary. Key Findings: The results reveal pronounced heterogeneity in cultural–tourism integration efficiency across China’s provinces. Overall efficiency levels remain relatively low nationwide, with only about one-third of provinces achieving DEA strong efficiency. Efficient provinces are primarily concentrated in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and parts of Central China, while many provinces in the Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest exhibit substantial inefficiencies characterized by input redundancy and output shortfalls. The Theil index analysis indicates that disparities in per-capita fiscal input constitute the most significant source of regional inequality, far exceeding disparities observed in public cultural services and tourism consumption outcomes. In contrast, indicators related to public cultural services, such as library circulation and museum visits, display relatively small disparities, suggesting the effectiveness of national equalization policies in this domain. The driving-factor analysis further demonstrates that household consumption capacity, population scale, and fiscal prioritization exert the strongest influence on provincial efficiency differences, whereas macroeconomic development level and higher-education resources play more limited roles in the short term. Provinces with stronger demand-side conditions and clearer fiscal prioritization tend to exhibit higher efficiency, while regions with weak consumption capacity and constrained fiscal support lag behind. Policy Implications: These findings underscore the need for a coordinated and differentiated policy approach to improving cultural–tourism integration efficiency in China. First, performance-oriented fiscal allocation mechanisms should be strengthened to ensure that public spending is more effectively translated into cultural and tourism outputs, particularly in provinces with persistent inefficiencies. Second, demand-side cultivation policies aimed at enhancing household consumption capacity and expanding diversified cultural–tourism products can generate more immediate efficiency gains. Third, region-specific governance strategies are required to address structural disparities, with western and northeastern provinces benefiting from targeted support that aligns fiscal inputs with local demand conditions and resource endowments. Overall, improving cultural–tourism integration efficiency depends less on expanding resource inputs than on enhancing implementation quality, policy coordination, and demand–supply alignment, thereby promoting more balanced and high-quality cultural–tourism development across regions.