*4.4. Symbiotic Interaction Mechanism between Tourism's Carbon Emission Efficiency (TCEE) and the Tourism Economy's High-Quality Development (TEHQD)*

## 4.4.1. Research on the Influencing Factors of Symbiotic Interaction

From the symbiotic interaction between TCEE and TEHQD, through the analysis of the explanatory power *q* of each effective factor, it was found that (Table 9), firstly, on the whole, energy input and capital input are the most important factors affecting the symbiosis between the TEHQD and the TCEE. Among them, D11 (the total energy consumption (0.9726)), C11 (the number of employees in hotels (0.9112)), and A11 (the original value of fixed assets of star hotels (0.8983)) have *q* values greater than 0.89, which are the key factors affecting symbiosis. Secondly, in 2011, energy factors were important factors affecting the symbiosis between the TEHQD and TCEE, and there was a large gap in explanatory power *q* with other factors. Among them, D11 (the total energy consumption (0.9612)) and D12 (the energy consumption of tertiary industry (0.9599)) were the key factors affecting symbiosis. Thirdly, in 2015, the effect of energy input factors was still significant, but the desirable output became the most important factor affecting the symbiosis between the TEHQD and TCEE. The gap between the explanatory power *q* of each factor gradually narrowed, and the explanatory power gap of other factors was very small except for the resource input, which all become relatively important influencing factors. Among them, E15 (the total number of visitors at scenic spot (0.9942)), E16 (the total number of visitors (0.9928)), and F13 (the carbon emission from tourism activity (0.9928)) are the most critical factors affecting symbiosis. Fourthly, compared to 2015, the explanatory power *q* of each factor decreased in 2019, and the gap widened. Capital input and labor input are important factors affecting the symbiosis between TEHQD and TCEE. C11 (the number of employees in hotels (0.9918)), A11 (the original value of fixed assets in star hotels (0.9854)), and D11 (the total energy consumption (0.9736)) are the key influencing factors. To sum up, with the development of time, the role of capital and labor input in TCEE gradually emerges, experiencing a development process from "energy" to "capital". Among them, D12 (the effect intensity of tertiary industry energy consumption) and C12 (travel agency employees) decreased significantly, while the effect of C13 (scenic area employees), E12 (star hotel operating income), E15 (tourist attractions total number of reception), A11 (star hotel fixed assets), and other indicators gradually increased and changed significantly. Indicators such as D11 (total energy consumption), E14 (operating income of tourist attractions), and C11 (number of hotel employees) were important influencing factors in recent years.


**Table 9.** Factor detection of symbiosis between tourism's carbon emission efficiency (TCEE) and the tourism economy's high-quality development (TEHQD).

\* Indicates that the factor is valid after passing the significance test at 0.05 level.

From the symbiotic interaction between TEHQD and TCEE (Table 9), through the analysis of the explanatory power *q* of each effective factor, it can be found that, firstly, overall, coordination and innovation were the most important factors affecting the symbiosis between TCEE and TEHQD. The *q* values of A23 (tourism fixed asset investment (0.9363)), B24 (tourist turnover (0.9301)), A21 (tourism R&D expenditure (0.9241)), and C22 (tourism greening contribution (0.9076)) were all greater than 0.9, and these are the key factors affecting symbiosis. Secondly, in 2011, sharing factors were the most important factors affecting the symbiosis between TCEE and TEHQD. Among them, C21 (the green coverage rate of built-up area (0.9977)), E23 (the per capita disposable income of residents (0.9961)), and E22 (the per capita public recreation area (0.9959)) were the key factors affecting the symbiosis. Thirdly, in 2015 and 2019, coordination became the most important factor affecting the symbiosis between TCEE and TEHQD, followed by innovation. In 2015, A23 (tourism fixed asset investment (0.9791)), B22 (tourism economy secondary

industry proportion (0.9584)), C23 (per capita park green area (0.9439)), E22 (per capita public recreation area (0.9439)), and A21 (tourism R&D expenditure (0.94)) were the key factors affecting symbiosis. By 2019, compared to 2015, in addition to A21 (tourism R&D expenditure (0.945)) and A23 (tourism fixed asset investment (0.945)), C22 (tourism greening contribution (0.9669)) and B24 (tourist turnover regional differences (0.9661)) became important influencing factors. To sum up, with the change of time, the role of innovation and coordination factors in TEHQD gradually came into prominence. It experienced a development procession of "sharing-coordination-innovation". C21 (the effect intensity of built-up area green coverage rate), E23 (residents per capita disposable income), E22 (per capita public recreation area), and D23 (tourism foreign exchange income) decreased significantly. A23 (tourism fixed asset investment), C23 (per capita park green area), A21 (tourism R&D expenditure), B24 (regional differences in tourist turnover), and C24 (environmental governance investment in GDP) gradually increased and changed significantly. C22 (contribution to tourism greening) and D22 (number of international tourism employees per 10,000 people) have been important influencing factors in recent years. However, the gap between the explanatory power *q* of each influencing factor gradually widened.
