Convergence Evaluation of Sports and Tourism Industries in Urban Agglomeration of Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area and Its Spatial-Temporal Evolution
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Dear Authors:
Many thanks for the opportunity to review this paper and congratulations on your work.
The paper analyses the convergence evaluation of sports and tourism industries in urban agglomerations, with a case study of 11 cities of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), from 2011 to 2020, from a quantitative perspective.
The text is taken care of and seems to be in accordance with the fundamental rules of use of sources of information (only a few exceptions: on page 6 lacks a space between Table and 2; on page 14 lacks a space in “products.Give full”; on page 15 lacks a space in “market.Support Zhuhai”).
The objectives are well defined, the methodology is clear and appropriate to the purposes of the work, and the methodology of analysis adopted are very interesting.
The literature review on fundamental concepts should deserve greater attention and development in the text (they present only one paragraph with 9 lines), because it is the central theme of the study, even to understand what kind of analyses have been made so far in the context of the relationship between sport and tourism in urban agglomerations, and what differentiates this study from existing ones in the world (not only in China).
In the conclusions, it would be important to explain or reinforce the main implications of the paper for tourism management in the area of study, and the main lines for future research.
In summary, this paper has great potential for publication.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
Thanks for your comments concerning our manuscript entitled “Convergence Evaluation of Sports and Tourism Industries in Urban Agglomeration of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and its Spatial-temporal Evolution” (ID: 1865960). Your comments are all valuable and very helpful for revising and improving our paper, as well as the important guiding significance to our researches. We have studied comments carefully and have made correction which we hope meet with approval. Revised portion are marked in red in the paper. The main corrections in the paper and the responds to the comments are as flowing:
Point 1: The text is taken care of and seems to be in accordance with the fundamental rules of use of sources of information (only a few exceptions: on page 6 lacks a space between Table and 2; on page 14 lacks a space in “products.Give full”; on page 15 lacks a space in “market.Support Zhuhai”).
Response 1: In the revised manuscript, we added a space between Table and 2, added a space in “products.Give full”, and added a space in “market.Support Zhuhai”. At the same time, we have also added a space in the paper where there are similar problems.
Point 2: The literature review on fundamental concepts should deserve greater attention and development in the text (they present only one paragraph with 9 lines), because it is the central theme of the study, even to understand what kind of analyses have been made so far in the context of the relationship between sport and tourism in urban agglomerations, and what differentiates this study from existing ones in the world (not only in China).
Response 2: We reorganized and revised the literature review, enriched the Chinese and western research in this field, and illustrated the difference between this research and the existing research in the world. For details, see the red marks in paragraphs 3-5 of Part 1 of the revised manuscript in the attachment. The revised literature review is presented as follows:
The convergence of sports tourism industry is the mutual penetration of the sports industry and the tourism industry through the industrial value chain, with sports ontology resources such as sports fitness and leisure projects, sports events and activities, and large sports venues as the core, and tourism service elements as the carrier. Through the gradual development of technology integration, business integration and market integration, a new type of service business with both sports and tourism characteristics has been formed [4]. The study on the convergence of sports and tourism industry in the West started in the 1960s, Anthony elaborated the mutual relationship between sports and tourism, which laid the foundation for the later research. At present, Western studies on the convergence of sports and tourism industry mainly focus on sports event tourism, sports tourist behavior, sports tourism impact, sports heritage tourism, sports tourism sustainable development and other fields. Gibson pointed out that we should pay attention to the small-scale sports tourism activities with its own particularity and the audience of the game as the core through the investigation of the small-scale tourism of the football fans of the University of Florida[5]. Nancy conducted a survey on sports tourists and explored the impact of sports events on cities through factor analysis, and the results showed that the social, environmental and economic benefits of cities hosting sports events had been improved to a certain extent[6]. In terms of the economic and social impact of sports tourism, Solberg pointed out hosting major sport events can cause positive shifts in tourism demand on a long-term basis, but the additional revenues might not counterbalance the investment costs that are required of the host destination, and the investments in sports facilities and associated infrastructure for major events must fit into the city's long-term plan[7]. Daniels discussed the different economic functions of the sports tourism industry in location and argued that although sports tourism can promote the income of the destination, not every region can hold a successful sports event on the premise of the central place theory[8]. Weed M. (2020) discussed the role of the interface of sport and tourism in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and pointed out that the interactive activities of sports tourism have made a significant contribution to people's physical and mental health and the response to the climate crisis during the pandemic[9]. In addition, sports heritage tourism and sustainable development of sports tourism are also key areas of sports tourism industry research in the West[10-13]. Hinch and Ramshaw illustrated the opportunities and challenges of heritage sport tourism by examining the Arctic Winter Games and the Canadian Football League as heritage sport tourism attractions in Canada[10]. Carneiro and Breda analyzed the sustainable management practices adopted by SMEs providing sports tourism products from five sustainability dimensions of economy, socio-cultural, environmental, policy and technology[11].
The study on convergence of Chinese sports industry started in 1992 and flourished in the 21st century. Especially in recent years, with the convergence and innovation of sports industry and related industries, the convergence of sports industry has attracted the attention of Chinese scholars. The research focusing on the convergence of sports and tourism industry mainly presents three aspects: First, the theoretical discussion on the convergence of the two industries has become the cornerstone of sports tourism development. Relevant researches cover the connotation[14-16], mechanism[17,4], motivation, mode[18-20] and effect of the industrial convergences[21-22]. There are three main convergence modes of sports industry and tourist industry: infiltration convergence, reorganization convergence and extension convergence[15-17]. The internal dynamics for the convergenc of the two comes from the asset universality of sports resources, while the external dynamics comes from the increasingly advanced tourism consumption structure[4,18]. Second, the practical research on the convergence of the two industries has expanded the new format and new supply for the development of sports tourism. Many practical researches on the convergence of sports tourism industry are goning in Sichuan, Shandong, Henan, Guizhou and other provinces by using the convergence theory of sports and tourist industry[21-24], the research focuses on the current situation, convergence mode, convergence products and countermeasures of the convergence of the two industries. Thirdly, the measurement of the convergence of the two industries provides a scientific judgment for sports tourism development. These researches on the convergence of sports and tourist industry in Chinese are mainly conducted by qualitative methodology, and quantitative researches are less. It mainly draws on the methods of measuring the relationship between industries, such as gray correlation analysis method, input-output method, coupling coordination degree model, etc. [25-30]. Zhang L.L. used the grey relational method to measure the convergence degree of China's sports and tourism industries[25]. Wang,Y.W. used the input-output method to measure the degree of convergence of sports and tourism industries in 31 provinces in China[26]. Xu J.F. et al. used the coupling coordination degree model to construct an index system for the coupling of sports and tourism industries, and explored the synthetic level and spatial distribution of the two industries in various regions[27]. Analyzing the convergence degree and development level of the two from a quantitative perspective can offer scientific support for the sports tourism development. The above achievements are concentrated in recent years, which shows that the measurement of the convergence of sports industry and tourist industry is a new research field.
To sum up, scholars have carried out extensive investigation and study on the convergence of sports and tourist industry, and gradually built the basic theoretical system of the convergence of the two industries. Western scholars pay more attention to the research on the relationship between sports events and the tourism industry, the economic and social impact of sports tourism and the sustainable development of sports tourism, etc. Chinese scholars mostly focusing on the connotation of integration, integration mechanism, integration model and integration strategy, etc. However, as a whole, the research methods are mostly qualitative, and the quantitative analysis is relatively few. The practice area is mainly concentrated in the scope of regions, provinces and cities, and the research on sports tourism convergence at the broader urban agglomeration level is very scarce. A small number of studies on sports tourism in urban agglomerations only focus on the sports tourism resources development of urban agglomerations[31-34], and there is no empirical analysis on the comparison and coordinated development of urban agglomeration sports and tourism industries. At the same time, the existing research does not involve the spatial impact of the spillover effect or siphon effect between cities in the process of the converged development of the two industries. In view of this, based on the panel data of sports and tourism industries of 11 cities in GBA from 2011 to 2020, this study uses the coupling coordination degree model and exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) to measure the convergence development level of sports and tourism industries in urban agglomeration of GBA, and analyze its convergence situation, spatial-temporal evolution and spatial correlation. On this basis, this paper puts forward strategic suggestions on the coordinated development of the sports tourism industry in urban agglomeration of GBA.
Point 3: In the conclusions, it would be important to explain or reinforce the main implications of the paper for tourism management in the area of study, and the main lines for future research.
Response 3: In the last paragraph of Part 5, we added the main implications of the paper for tourism management in the area of study and the explanation of the main lines for future research. The specific revision are as follows:
Taking the sports industry in GBA as the carrier, this study explores the synergistic development of sports and tourism industries from the level of urban agglomeration, which is helpful to enrich the theory and practice system of tourism. Through the evaluation and spatial correlation analysis of the convergence degree between the sports industry and the tourism industry in GBA, it reveals the convergence trend, temporal and spatial evolution law and spatial agglomeration characteristics of the sports and tourism industries, which can provide a scientific decision-making basis for promoting the coordinated development of the sports tourism industry, deepening the regional cooperation between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, and improving people's happiness in urban agglomeration of GBA. In the following research, we can further improve the evaluating indicator system of sports and tourism industries, and design a more accurate evaluation model. In addition, this paper focuses on analyzing the spatial-temporal evolution characteristics of the convergence development level of the two industries in urban agglomeration of GBA. However, there is a lack of research on the driving mechanism, influencing factors and the evolution mechanism of the spatial-temporal pattern of the development of two industries,which is also the direction of further research in the future.
Other modifications include:
- In the second paragraphof Part 1, we supplemented the importance and necessity of the integration of sports and tourism industry for the development of the GBA.
- In order to be able to more clearly and intuitively express the evolution of the comprehensive development level of the sports industry and the tourism industry, we changed Figure 1 to take time as the horizontal axis.
- In paragraphs 1-3 of Part 5, we compared the results of this study with the results of previous similar studies.
- In the last paragraph of Part6, we added the practical suggestions of this study.
- We checked and added some references.
Special thanks to you for your good comments.
Reviewer 2 Report
This article had established an evaluating indicator system for the converged development of sports and tourism industries. By using the coupling coordination degree model and exploratory spatial data analysis, the paper measured and analyzed the convergence development level, spatial-temporal evolution and spatial correlation of the two industries in 11 cities of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) from 2011 to 2020. The overall writing of the article is standardized, taking 11 cities in GBA as a case study, which is both typical and representative, and has certain practical significance for the integration of sports and tourism industries. However, there are still some details in the article that need to be noticed.
1、 In the introduction of the article, the research content of the convergence of sports and tourism is relatively blunt. It is suggested to supplement the importance and necessity of the integration of sports and tourism industry for the development of the GBA.
2、 The review of the research on the convergence of sports and tourism in this West is brief. It is recommended to enrich the existing research in the West in this field.
3、 How is the index weight of the evaluation index system for the integration and development of the sports and tourism industries in Table 2 obtained? The article did not have a very detailed explanation and explanation, it is recommended to add it.
4、 For Figure 1, the paper intended to express the evolution of the comprehensive development level of the sports and tourism industries. It is suggested to take time as the horizontal axis, in order to be able to more clearly and intuitively express the evolution of the comprehensive development level of the sports industry and the tourism industry.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
Thanks for your comments concerning our manuscript entitled “Convergence Evaluation of Sports and Tourism Industries in Urban Agglomeration of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and its Spatial-temporal Evolution”(ID: 1865960). Your comments are all valuable and very helpful for revising and improving our paper, as well as the important guiding significance to our researches. We have studied comments carefully and have made correction which we hope meet with approval. Revised portion are marked in red in the paper. The main corrections in the paper and the responds to the comments are as flowing:
Point 1: In the introduction of the article, the research content of the convergence of sports and tourism is relatively blunt. It is suggested to supplement the importance and necessity of the integration of sports and tourism industry for the development of the GBA.
Response 1: In the second paragraph of the introduction section, we supplemented the importance and necessity of the integration of sports and tourism industry for the development of the GBA. The specific revision are as follows:
The convergence of sports and tourism industries is of great significance for GBA to promote the coordinated development of industries, strengthen regional exchanges and cooperation, create a high-quality living circle and strengthen the national identity of Hong Kong and Macao. GBA is rich in sports and tourism resources[2], the holding of large-scale sports events such as the Guangzhou Asian Games, the Shenzhen Universiade, and the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Dongguan, as well as the development of theme tourism parks such as Hong Kong Disneyland and Guangzhou Sunac Cultural Tourism City, have provided the opportunities for the convergence of sports and tourism industries in GBA. Increasing the cooperation between the sports industry and the tourism industry in GBA is conducive to the coordinated development of the sports tourism industry. It can not only allow traditional tourism to effectively break through the development boundary, expand the scope of tourism resources, and promote industrial transformation and upgrading, but also allow the sports industry to extend the value chain, promote sports consumption, expand market influence, and enhance its overall economic benefits. In addition, as an emerging way of recreation, sports tourism mainly includes activities such as leisure and entertainment, physical exercise, sports competition, physical rehabilitation and sports and cultural exchanges. The characteristic sports tourism projects of various cities can form effective interactions and play an active role in promoting regional exchanges and cooperation and non-governmental contacts between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao. In the top-level design of the construction of GBA, in order to cooperate with the development of high-tech industries and manufacturing, it is proposed to vigorously develop the service industry in the Bay area[3], and build a leisure Bay area, a healthy Bay area and a humanities Bay area. The convergence of sports and tourism industries has become an important carrier for the construction of the above three types of Bay areas. In all, the convergence of sports and tourism industries is important and necessary for the high-quality development of GBA.
Point 2: The review of the research on the convergence of sports and tourism in this West is brief. It is recommended to enrich the existing research in the West in this field.
Response 2: In the third paragraph of the introduction section, we reorganized and revised the literature review, enriched the existing research in the West in this field. The revised literature review is presented as follows:
The convergence of sports tourism industry is the mutual penetration of the sports industry and the tourism industry through the industrial value chain, with sports ontology resources such as sports fitness and leisure projects, sports events and activities, and large sports venues as the core, and tourism service elements as the carrier. Through the gradual development of technology integration, business integration and market integration, a new type of service business with both sports and tourism characteristics has been formed [4]. The study on the convergence of sports and tourism industry in the West started in the 1960s, Anthony elaborated the mutual relationship between sports and tourism, which laid the foundation for the later research. At present, Western studies on the convergence of sports and tourism industry mainly focus on sports event tourism, sports tourist behavior, sports tourism impact, sports heritage tourism, sports tourism sustainable development and other fields. Gibson pointed out that we should pay attention to the small-scale sports tourism activities with its own particularity and the audience of the game as the core through the investigation of the small-scale tourism of the football fans of the University of Florida[5]. Nancy conducted a survey on sports tourists and explored the impact of sports events on cities through factor analysis, and the results showed that the social, environmental and economic benefits of cities hosting sports events had been improved to a certain extent[6]. In terms of the economic and social impact of sports tourism, Solberg pointed out hosting major sport events can cause positive shifts in tourism demand on a long-term basis, but the additional revenues might not counterbalance the investment costs that are required of the host destination, and the investments in sports facilities and associated infrastructure for major events must fit into the city's long-term plan[7]. Daniels discussed the different economic functions of the sports tourism industry in location and argued that although sports tourism can promote the income of the destination, not every region can hold a successful sports event on the premise of the central place theory[8]. Weed M. (2020) discussed the role of the interface of sport and tourism in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and pointed out that the interactive activities of sports tourism have made a significant contribution to people's physical and mental health and the response to the climate crisis during the pandemic[9]. In addition, sports heritage tourism and sustainable development of sports tourism are also key areas of sports tourism industry research in the West[10-13]. Hinch and Ramshaw illustrated the opportunities and challenges of heritage sport tourism by examining the Arctic Winter Games and the Canadian Football League as heritage sport tourism attractions in Canada[10]. Carneiro and Breda analyzed the sustainable management practices adopted by SMEs providing sports tourism products from five sustainability dimensions of economy, socio-cultural, environmental, policy and technology[11].
Point 3: How is the index weight of the evaluation index system for the integration and development of the sports and tourism industries in Table 2 obtained? The article did not have a very detailed explanation and explanation, it is recommended to add it.
Response 3: In the first paragraph of the results section, we added the explanation of how to obtain the index weight of the evaluation index system for the integration and development of the sports and tourism industries. The details are as follows:
Based on the indicators data of the sports industry and tourism industry of 11 cities in GBA from 2011 to 2020, using the weight calculation formula in Entropy Method, the weight of each indicator in the evaluating indicator system is obtained, as shown in Table 1.
Point 4: For Figure 1, the paper intended to express the evolution of the comprehensive development level of the sports and tourism industries. It is suggested to take time as the horizontal axis, in order to be able to more clearly and intuitively express the evolution of the comprehensive development level of the sports industry and the tourism industry.
Response 4: In order to be able to more clearly and intuitively express the evolution of the comprehensive development level of the sports industry and the tourism industry, we changed Figure 1 to take time as the horizontal axis. The revised Figure 1 is shown in the attachment.
Other modifications include:
1. We reorganized and revised the literature review, and illustrated the difference between this research and the existing research in the world. For details, see the red marks in the fifth paragraphs of Part 1 of the revised manuscript in the attachment.
2. In paragraphs 1-3 of Part 5, we compared the results of this study with the results of previous similar studies. In the last paragraph of Part 5, we added the main implications of the paper for tourism management in the area of study and the explanation of the main directions for future research.
3. In the last paragraph of Part 6, we added the practical suggestions of this study.
4. We checked and added some references.
We hope that our revised version will be satisfactory for publication in Sustainability. Great thanks to you for the time and effort you expend on this paper.
Reviewer 3 Report
This paper is well written and of adequate quality. However, I recommend some suggestions that would improve the document:
Introduction: It is mentioned in this study that there are previous studies related to this topic. Recommending that you mention the research of previous related studies. Not only is it mentioned that there are previous studies, but also the results of these studies are mentioned. This will also help in the discussion section. Recommending that the research objective or objectives be clearly mentioned.
Methods: Ok
Results: Ok
Discussion: Recommending that you compare the results of this study with the results of previous similar studies. In addition, I recommend that the theoretical contribution of this study be mentioned and made.
Conclusions: Recommending to mention the theoretical suggestions and the practical suggestions of this study.
Author Response
Dear Reviewer,
Thanks for your comments concerning our manuscript entitled “Convergence Evaluation of Sports and Tourism Industries in Urban Agglomeration of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and its Spatial-temporal Evolution”(ID: 1865960). Your comments are all valuable and very helpful for revising and improving our paper, as well as the important guiding significance to our researches. We have studied comments carefully and have made correction which we hope meet with approval. Revised portion are marked in red in the paper. The main corrections in the paper and the responds to the comments are as flowing:
Point 1: Introduction: It is mentioned in this study that there are previous studies related to this topic. Recommending that you mention the research of previous related studies. Not only is it mentioned that there are previous studies, but also the results of these studies are mentioned. This will also help in the discussion section. Recommending that the research objective or objectives be clearly mentioned.
Response 1: We reorganized and revised the literature review, mentioned the research results of previous related studies, and enriched the Chinese and western research in this field. In the last paragraph of the introduction, we clearly mentioned the research objectives. For details, see the red marks in paragraphs 3-5 of the introduction section in the revised manuscript. The revised literature review is presented as follows:
The convergence of sports tourism industry is the mutual penetration of the sports industry and the tourism industry through the industrial value chain, with sports ontology resources such as sports fitness and leisure projects, sports events and activities, and large sports venues as the core, and tourism service elements as the carrier. Through the gradual development of technology integration, business integration and market integration, a new type of service business with both sports and tourism characteristics has been formed [4]. The study on the convergence of sports and tourism industry in the West started in the 1960s, Anthony elaborated the mutual relationship between sports and tourism, which laid the foundation for the later research. At present, Western studies on the convergence of sports and tourism industry mainly focus on sports event tourism, sports tourist behavior, sports tourism impact, sports heritage tourism, sports tourism sustainable development and other fields. Gibson pointed out that we should pay attention to the small-scale sports tourism activities with its own particularity and the audience of the game as the core through the investigation of the small-scale tourism of the football fans of the University of Florida[5]. Nancy conducted a survey on sports tourists and explored the impact of sports events on cities through factor analysis, and the results showed that the social, environmental and economic benefits of cities hosting sports events had been improved to a certain extent[6]. In terms of the economic and social impact of sports tourism, Solberg pointed out hosting major sport events can cause positive shifts in tourism demand on a long-term basis, but the additional revenues might not counterbalance the investment costs that are required of the host destination, and the investments in sports facilities and associated infrastructure for major events must fit into the city's long-term plan[7]. Daniels discussed the different economic functions of the sports tourism industry in location and argued that although sports tourism can promote the income of the destination, not every region can hold a successful sports event on the premise of the central place theory[8]. Weed M. discussed the role of the interface of sport and tourism in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and pointed out that the interactive activities of sports tourism have made a significant contribution to people's physical and mental health and the response to the climate crisis during the pandemic[9]. In addition, sports heritage tourism and sustainable development of sports tourism are also key areas of sports tourism industry research in the West[10-13]. Hinch and Ramshaw illustrated the opportunities and challenges of heritage sport tourism by examining the Arctic Winter Games and the Canadian Football League as heritage sport tourism attractions in Canada[10]. Carneiro and Breda analyzed the sustainable management practices adopted by SMEs providing sports tourism products from five sustainability dimensions of economy, socio-cultural, environmental, policy and technology[11].
The study on convergence of Chinese sports industry started in 1992 and flourished in the 21st century. Especially in recent years, with the convergence and innovation of sports industry and related industries, the convergence of sports industry has attracted the attention of Chinese scholars. The research focusing on the convergence of sports and tourism industry mainly presents three aspects: First, the theoretical discussion on the convergence of the two industries has become the cornerstone of sports tourism development. Relevant researches cover the connotation[14-16], mechanism[17,4], motivation, mode[18-20] and effect of the industrial convergences[21-22]. There are three main convergence modes of sports industry and tourist industry: infiltration convergence, reorganization convergence and extension convergence[15-17]. The internal dynamics for the convergenc of the two comes from the asset universality of sports resources, while the external dynamics comes from the increasingly advanced tourism consumption structure[4,18]. Second, the practical research on the convergence of the two industries has expanded the new format and new supply for the development of sports tourism. Many practical researches on the convergence of sports tourism industry are goning in Sichuan, Shandong, Henan, Guizhou and other provinces by using the convergence theory of sports and tourist industry[21-24], the research focuses on the current situation, convergence mode, convergence products and countermeasures of the convergence of the two industries. Thirdly, the measurement of the convergence of the two industries provides a scientific judgment for sports tourism development. These researches on the convergence of sports and tourist industry in Chinese are mainly conducted by qualitative methodology, and quantitative researches are less. It mainly draws on the methods of measuring the relationship between industries, such as gray correlation analysis method, input-output method, coupling coordination degree model, etc. [25-30]. Zhang L.L. used the grey relational method to measure the convergence degree of China's sports and tourism industries[25]. Wang,Y.W. used the input-output method to measure the degree of convergence of sports and tourism industries in 31 provinces in China[26]. Xu J.F. et al. used the coupling coordination degree model to construct an index system for the coupling of sports and tourism industries, and explored the synthetic level and spatial distribution of the two industries in various regions[27]. Analyzing the convergence degree and development level of the two from a quantitative perspective can offer scientific support for the sports tourism development. The above achievements are concentrated in recent years, which shows that the measurement of the convergence of sports industry and tourist industry is a new research field.
To sum up, scholars have carried out extensive investigation and study on the convergence of sports and tourist industry, and gradually built the basic theoretical system of the convergence of the two industries. Western scholars pay more attention to the research on the relationship between sports events and the tourism industry, the economic and social impact of sports tourism and the sustainable development of sports tourism, etc. Chinese scholars mostly focusing on the connotation of integration, integration mechanism, integration model and integration strategy, etc. However, as a whole, the research methods are mostly qualitative, and the quantitative analysis is relatively few. The practice area is mainly concentrated in the scope of regions, provinces and cities, and the research on sports tourism convergence at the broader urban agglomeration level is very scarce. A small number of studies on sports tourism in urban agglomerations only focus on the sports tourism resources development of urban agglomerations[31-34], and there is no empirical analysis on the comparison and coordinated development of urban agglomeration sports and tourism industries. At the same time, the existing research does not involve the spatial impact of the spillover effect or siphon effect between cities in the process of the converged development of the two industries. In view of this, based on the panel data of sports and tourism industries of 11 cities in GBA from 2011 to 2020, this study uses the coupling coordination degree model and exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) to measure the convergence development level of sports and tourism industries in urban agglomeration of GBA, and analyze its convergence situation, spatial-temporal evolution and spatial correlation. On this basis, this paper puts forward strategic suggestions on the coordinated development of the sports tourism industry in urban agglomeration of GBA.
Point 2: Discussion: Recommending that you compare the results of this study with the results of previous similar studies. In addition, I recommend that the theoretical contribution of this study be mentioned and made.
Response 2: In paragraphs 1-3 of the dicussion section, we compared the results of this study with the results of previous similar studies. In the last paragraph of the dicussion section, we added the theoretical contribution of this study and the explanation of the future research directions. The specific revision are as follows:
The convergence of sports and tourism industries is an inevitable trend of socio-economic development in the new era. It is also an important direction for the coordinated industrial development and an important means for creating a high-quality living circle that is livable, business, and travelling in the urban agglomeration of GBA. Through the research, it is found that the overall situation of the convergence of sports and tourism industries in urban agglomeration of GBA shows an increasing trend from west to east. The level of industrial convergence within the urban agglomeration is significantly different. The cities around the Pearl River Estuary have a high degree of coupling development, while the cites in the West coast and mountain areas of GBA have a low degree of coupling development. When Xu J.F.[27] and Wang C.[16] studied the convergence of sports and tourism industries in China, they also concluded that the coupling coordination degree of sports and tourism industries in China showed a spatial feature of ladder distribution in the east, the middle and the west, the coupling coordination degree in the eastern coastal area is better than that in the central and western mountainous areas. Xu X.J. also obtained similar research results in the research on the convergence development of sports and tourism industries in Shandong Province, Qingdao, Yantai and other eastern coastal areas and areas with convenient transportation have a higher convergence degree of sports and tourism industries, while Liaocheng, Heze and other western mountainous cities have a lower convergence degree of sports and tourism industries [22]. It can be seen that the convergence trend of sports and tourism industries is similar to a certain extent at the urban agglomeration level , province level or country level. Geographical location, transportation convenience and economic development level have an important impact on the convergence of regional sports tourism industry. It is worth noting that this view is supported by Daniels et al. Based on the central place theory, Daniels believes that the economic role of the sports tourism industry will have significant differences due to different location characteristics, and it is necessary to strengthen the sports tourism collaboration between regions, build a cooperative brand and promote the coordinated development of regional economy[8].
The analysis also shows that the cities with many large-scale international sports events have fast transformation and upgrading of tourism industry, high development degree of sports industry and tourism industry, and high level of coupling coordination degree of sports tourism industry. Cities that have not yet formed international sports brand events that can be continuously held and operated have a low level of sports facilities operation, poor aggregation effect, unable to effectively integrate the advantages of tourism resources with sports industry, and low level of coupling coordination of the sports tourism industry. The results of this study are similar to those of Solberg and Nancy et al. Solberg believes that hosting major sports events can bring about a positive change in urban tourism demand on a long-term basis, and the complete infrastructure and sports facilities provide a prerequisite for hosting more events, attracting more tourists and promoting the integrated development of urban sports tourism[7]. Nancy found that the social, environmental and economic benefits of the host cities were improved to some extent[6]. The results of this study and the above studies all reflect that the continuous holding of large-scale sports events can indeed promote the converged development of regional sports tourism industry.
Since the GBA was proposed, academic circles have paid close attention to it. In recent years, scholars have begun to discuss the coordinated development of industries in GBA from the perspective of sports[43-48]. Xiao J.Y. found that the uneven development of the sports industry in the cities of GBA hinders the coordinated development of the sports industry in GBA [48]. Zhou L.J. believes that the coordinated development of sports industry needs to combine the comparative advantages of Bay Area cities and make use of the division of labor and cluster of regional sports industry[43]. Zhu H.J. proposed that the convergence development of sports events in GBA will help avoid competition for the interests of sports events among cities in GBA, and fully release the synthetical effect of the convergence of sports events[44]. The above scholars have recognized the uneven development of the sports industryand the importance of coordinated development in urban agglomeration of GBA. Compared with existing studies, this study adopts quantitative analysis methods such as coupling coordination model and ESDA to not only reveal the unbalanced development of sports tourism industry in urban agglomeration of GBA, but also measure the degree and trend of unbalanced development. The results show that the convergence degree of sports tourism industry in GBA has an obvious growth trend, the cities around the Pearl River Estuary have a high degree of coupled development and obvious spatial agglomeration effect, which has a certain spillover effect to the surrounding areas where the integration of the two industries is not well developed. However, the coupling development degree of cities in the periphery and west coast of GBA is low. Although there is siphon effect, the impact is constantly weakening. Through the quantitative analysis of industrial integration, the research results are more reliable and valid, which provides a scientific basis for the formulation of collaborative development policies of sports industry in urban agglomeration of GBA , and makes up for the subjectivity and one-side defects of previous qualitative studies.
Taking the sports industry in GBA as the carrier, this study explores the synergistic development of sports and tourism industries from the level of urban agglomeration, which is helpful to enrich the theory and practice system of tourism. Through the evaluation and spatial correlation analysis of the convergence degree between the sports industry and the tourism industry in GBA, it reveals the convergence trend, temporal and spatial evolution law and spatial agglomeration characteristics of the sports and tourism industries, which can provide a scientific decision-making basis for promoting the coordinated development of the sports tourism industry, deepening the regional cooperation between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, and improving people's happiness in urban agglomeration of GBA. It should be pointed out that this study still has certain limitations. As relatively independent economies, Hong Kong and Macau have different statistical standards from the Pearl River Delta cities. Using the same evaluating indicator system for measurement will ignore the uniqueness of Hong Kong and Macau. Therefore, in the following research, we can further improve the evaluating indicator system of sports and tourism industries, and design a more accurate evaluation model. In addition, this paper focuses on analyzing the spatial-temporal evolution characteristics of the convergence development level of the two industries in urban agglomeration of GBA. However, there is a lack of research on the driving mechanism, influencing factors and the evolution mechanism of the spatial-temporal pattern of the development of two industries,which is also the direction of further research in the future.
Point 3: Conclusions: Recommending to mention the theoretical suggestions and the practical suggestions of this study.
Response 3: In the last paragraph of the conclusions section, we added the practical suggestions of this study. The details are as follows:
According to the development trend and problems of the convergence of sports and tourism industries in GBA, strategic suggestions are put forward from four aspects: spatial layout coordination, industrial division coordination, exchange platform coordination and regional policy coordination. In view of the large differences in the convergence level and uneven development of sports tourism industry within the urban agglomeration of GBA, it is proposed the spatial layout coordinations strategy of the core area around the Pearl River Estuary, the West coast of GBA and the North coast of GBA, in order to promote the urban agglomeration of GBA to form a convergence development pattern of sports tourism resource sharing and mutual benefit, and build the sports tourism brand of GBA with wide influence. In view of the problem of unclear and homogenized development of the sports tourism industry in urban agglomeration of GBA, it is proposed to give full play to the advantages of each city in GBA, promote the industrial division coordination of sports tourism industry within the urban agglomeration, build a distinctive sports tourism product system, and realize the differentiated development of sports tourism in urban agglomeration of GBA. Aiming at the problem of the impeded flow of sports industry and tourism industry elements in urban agglomeration of GBA, it is proposed to construct five kinds of sports tourism industry communication platforms and build the sports tourism industry cooperation bridge, including sports tourism industry liaison and docking platform, sports tourism information sharing and co-construction platform, sports tourism industry service platform, sports tourism investment and financing platform and sports tourism joint promotion platform. In view of the institutional differences and institutional coordination problems caused by cross-border of the development of sports tourism industry in urban agglomeration of GBA, it is proposed to establish an integrated overall coordination mechanism and a cross-regional sports tourism industry cooperation mechanism with cost sharing and benefit sharing, to promote the free flow of various elements such as capital, talent, and technology.
Other modifications include:
- In the second paragraph of the introduction, we supplemented the importance and necessity of the integration of sports and tourism industry for the development of the GBA.
- In order to be able to more clearly and intuitively express the evolution of the comprehensive development level of the sports industry and the tourism industry, we changed Figure 1 to take time as the horizontal axis.
- We checked and added some references.
We hope that our revised version will be satisfactory for publication in Sustainability. Special thanks to you for your good comments.
