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

4.3.1. Calculation of Symbiosis Degree

According to Formulas (6) and (7), the symbiosis degree of tourism's carbon emission efficiency (TCEE) and the tourism economy's high-quality development (TEHQD) in the Yellow River Basin can be obtained, as shown in Table 7. In general, the average symbiosis degree of the Yellow River Basin is δ*CE* = 0.2617 > 0, δ*EC* = −2.1192 < 0, which indicates that there is a parasitic relationship between TCEE and TEHQD.


**Table 7.** Symbiosis between tourism's carbon emission efficiency (TCEE) and the tourism economy's high-quality development (TEHQD).

From a provincial perspective, the results show that, firstly, the average symbiosis of Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, and Shandong provinces are δ*CE* > 0, δ*EC* < 0 or δ*CE* < 0, δ*EC* > 0, indicating that the TCEE and TEHQD in these regions are parasitic, but from the point of view of each year, it is positive or negative asymmetric

symbiosis. The difference of the symbiosis coefficient in each year resulted in the deviation of the overall mean coefficient. Secondly, the average symbiosis degree of Ningxia was δ*CE* = −0.8605 = δ*EC* = −5.6814 < 0, indicating that the TCEE and the TEHQD show a reverse asymmetric symbiosis. Thirdly, as the average symbiosis degree δ*CE* and δ*EC* were close, it can be considered that the TCEE and the TEHQD in Inner Mongolia have approximately presented a positive symbiosis and experienced a transition from positive asymmetric symbiosis to reverse asymmetric symbiosis to positive asymmetric symbiosis from 2010 to 2019.
