Spatial effects of tourism development on economic resilience: an empirical study of Wenchuan earthquake based on dynamic spatial Durbin model

This study highlights the importance of the effects of spatial tourism. Using panel data of 135 Wenchuan earthquake-affected counties from 2008 to 2018, this study employs the dynamic spatial Durbin model to examine the spatial effects of tourism development on post-disaster economic resilience and compares the differences in the tourism-growth nexus between severe disaster-affected counties and general disaster-affected counties. The empirical results show that tourism development contributes to economic resilience for general disaster-affected counties, which supports the tourism-led growth hypothesis, whereas there is an inverted U-shaped relationship for severely disaster-affected counties. Furthermore, the spatial spillover effects of tourism are insignificant. Plausible explanations for these results are discussed, and policy suggestions are provided.