Testing Convergence of Tourism Development and Exploring Its Influencing Factors: Empirical Evidence from the Greater Bay Area in China

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Dear authors,

As one of the reviwers, I read your manuscript. My main concerns are as following:

1) the research problem is not identifiable and it is not specific, as well as research questions. I wrote this for you on the file as comment: "I cannot understand the research problem statement. I expect that the introduction provides the readers the background of a specific problem with data or evidences and then specify a specific research problem that is based on a real issue. currently I can not recognize "specific problem". three research questions are not specific too, and sounds wider than a specific research question."

2. literature review is very short. it is expected to present an extensive body of existing knowledge. the readers must understand what we have already know and why it is not sufficient for solving the current problem. a good literature review is also useful in reflecting your contribution. 

3. managerial implication sounds obvious with nothing new. I suggest you to rewrite this section and connect the findings of the research with something new for managers. 

4. two important sections are missed: 1) suggestions for future researchers, 2) research limitations. in the first suggest new outlines for researchers who want to extend your work and to add new contributions. in the second express the boundaries that your findings are generalizable.

I will be ready to review your revision.

Best of luck

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Reviewer #1:

As one of the reviewers, I read your manuscript. My main concerns are as following:

Response

Thank you for taking the time to offer critical comments. In the following sections, you will find our responses to each of your points and suggestions. We are grateful for the time and energy you expended on our behalf.

COMMENT 1:

1) the research problem is not identifiable and it is not specific, as well as research questions. I wrote this for you on the file as comment: "I cannot understand the research problem statement. I expect that the introduction provides the readers the background of a specific problem with data or evidences and then specify a specific research problem that is based on a real issue. currently I cannot recognize "specific problem". three research questions are not specific too, and sounds wider than a specific research question."

►RESPONSE:

Thank you for the constructive comment. This section has been modified as following:

The Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) is the largest and most populated urban area in the world. GBA has a total area of 56,000 km2 and is in South China with the most competitive cities. The GBA has a population of approximately 5% of the total population of China. Already dubbed “richer than Silicon Valley,” the expected GDP of the GBA by 2030 would be larger than the current GDP of Germany, making it the highest GDP among other bay areas, according to a report by PwC. With a rich culture and heritage-related resources, GBA is a world-class famous tourist destination. With strong economic vitality, a high degree of inclusiveness and openness, and leading innovation capabilities, the development of GBA is a priority for the government.

Destination marketing has received considerable attention for the past several years. However, the sustainable tourism development in GBA has not yet been systematically studied. For example, very few studies have been done to explore the differences in the tourism industry’s convergence of cities within this urban agglomeration. Within a modern tourism format, culture has become a key product and created distinctiveness in an increasingly crowded global marketplace. Exploring the issue of convergence between tourism and culture in GBA based on tourist arrivals from different destinations and identifying the influencing factors is conducive to promoting multidimensional sustainability in tourism, designing long-term recovery strategies, and providing ongoing support and constructive guidance for delivering tourism services. 

Under the background of cultural and tourism integration, the purpose of this research was threefold: 1) to conduct a dynamic analysis to estimate the trend in the coupled development of the tourism and culture industries; 2) to explore the influencing factors that contribute to the coupling relationship between the t tourism and culture industries; and 3) to provide a reference for macro-policy formulation in GBA regarding the sustainable development of the tourism industry. Against this background, a sequential mixed-methods design consisting of three steps was adopted to achieve these research objectives. An aggregated evaluation index system was constructed to assess the impact of tourism clusters on local development. The commonly used entropy weight method was then adopted to determine the weights of the relative importance of the criteria. The coordination degree model was built to evaluate the degree of coupling coordination in tourism development. 

COMMENT 2:

Literature review is very short. it is expected to present an extensive body of existing knowledge. the readers must understand what we have already know and why it is not sufficient for solving the current problem. a good literature review is also useful in reflecting your contribution. 

►RESPONSE:

Thank you for the constructive comment. Literature review part has been modified as following:

In general, the term convergence can be used to describe the coming together of two different entities. In the world of technology, the meaning of convergence refers to different technological systems that move towards performing a range of identical or similar duties. Over the past year, the blurring of boundaries between industries through the convergence of elements has been an emerging trend as a response to the global economy. Convergence is usually related to integration and coordination to show a similar trend among industries[4][5][6]. Industrial convergence is an important phenomenon in the development of modern industry. “Industrial convergence” can be defined as the blurring of industry boundaries through the integration of interactive elements, such as tech-led strategies, valuation, and business models[7][8]. Industrial convergence is characterized by a gradual and continuous unsolidified and dynamic process[9]. 

The convergence between tourism and culture, and the increasing interest of visitors in history, preservation, heritage sites, and cultural activities, bring incredible opportunities but also immediate challenges for the core business model of tourism. Over the past several years, as a popular term, convergence is an emerging branch of tourism research and has been widely known, cited, and mentioned explicitly in the development of tourism destinations. Cultural tourism is a modality that has been expanding over the past 20 years. It has recorded strong growth and has become one of the largest and fastest-growing global tourism markets. Cultural tourism is a trend of many countries and regions. Cultural tourism has the conditions and characteristics required for industrial convergence and is an important practical form of modern industrial convergence and development. Today, it is widely accepted that cultures are not naturally bounded entities and involve multiple aspects across borders and the global marketplace[10][11].

The convergence between tourism and culture and the increasing interest of visitors in cultural experiences provide unique opportunities as well as complex challenges for the global economy from different perspectives. Previous studies have used the evaluation model of the coordination degree to explore the integration between the culture and tourism sectors. For example, the direct economic impact of tourism development can be measured by evaluating investment efficiency[12], the synergy of the tourism industry and regional innovation[13], competitiveness evaluation and regional synergy[14] and the integration of the cultural tourism industry and influencing factors[15][16]. In recent years, research on the convergence between tourism and culture has been making significant progress in digital transformation. However, few has investigated the convergence between tourism and culture industries in the Greater Bay Area which consists of nine cities and two special administrative regions in South China from the economic development and opening up perspective.

COMMENT 3

Managerial implication sounds obvious with nothing new. I suggest you to rewrite this section and connect the findings of the research with something new for managers. 

►RESPONSE

Thank you for the constructive comment. The managerial implication section has been modified as following:

For cities with a low degree of integration in the tourism industry, local governments must first identify problems and determine the reasons, and then clarify the development concept, learn advanced experiences, and realize a significant coupling coordination relationship between the two industries. In addition, the GBA government should optimize industrial development ideas between cities and promote the integration of culture and tourism.

For cities with a lower degree of integration, we must first identify the problems and determine their reasons. The phenomenon of tourism industry imbalance in cities in the Pearl River Delta region, “cultural lag” or “tourism lag” indicates that the potential of the cultural or tourism industry has not been efficiently used. Therefore, for the lagging cultural industry, the city may not have enough influence on factor supply, industrial support, product innovation, and service design, failing to meet people’s tourism needs and achieving deep integration with the tourism industry. The lag in the tourism industry may be due to deficiencies in local tourism infrastructure, traffic conditions, destination image construction, and publicity, which lag the development of the cultural industry.

The local government should clarify the development concept, gain advanced experience, and realize the coordinated development of the two industries. Local governments should absorb experience from inter-regional comparisons, and cities with a low degree of integration should actively learn from the development paths and models of Guangzhou and Shenzhen in the tourism industry. They should explore the multiple integration paths of the tourism industry value chain reconstruction and cultivate diversified integration models. For example, from the perspective of innovative combinations of value modules, the deep integration path of animation, theater, performing arts, amusement, creative design industries, and tourism needs to be explored.

At the regional level, the GBA government needs to improve industrial development and cooperation between cities. To accelerate the level of urban cultural tourism and improve industrial competitiveness in GBA, cities need to explore the characteristics of their respective industries, clarify their industrial positioning, reduce the negative impact of industrial homogeneity, and build a coordinated development system for the tourism industry with reasonable industrial division of labor, orderly coordination, fairness, and efficiency.

COMMENT 4

Two important sections are missed: 1) suggestions for future researchers, 2) research limitations. in the first suggest new outlines for researchers who want to extend your work and to add new contributions. in the second express the boundaries that your findings are generalizable.

►RESPONSE

Thank you for the constructive comment. This section has been added as following:

This study has several limitations that need to be addressed in future studies. First,

urbanization construction is conducive to adjusting the industrial structure, improving traffic conditions, and simultaneously bringing about human capital, thus affecting the development of the culture and tourism economy. Future studies could get rid of the “population urbanization” concept of achievement, appropriately control the population size, pay special attention to the quality of life and welfare among urban residents. Second, from the perspective of technological innovation, cultural tourism-related enterprises in GBA can use modern scientific and technological means to digitize and virtualize cultural tourism resources, such as VR technology, to increase the immersive cultural experience of tourists, meet high-level and diverse needs, and promote deeper integration of the culture and tourism industry. Future studies could incorporate digital culture and tourism resources into mass communication systems to enhance the influence of regional cultural tourism to a certain extent.

Reviewer 2 Report

Please, taking into the follow recommendation:
1) The abstract presents the case study, the results, but the information about objectives, methods and theoretical background are absent.
2) The introduction contains: presentation of “dual circulation” concept in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) that involves Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao, the aims of the research and the methodology used in the study and based on a sequential mixed-methods that consisting of three steps.
3) Literature review: brief with in-depth analysis on “industrial convergence”.
4) Methodology: is adequately described and there different subsections in order to present the study area (GBA), the evaluation on Convergence model used for analyzing the topic and the factoring that determines the real convergence.
5) Results paragraph: the results are interesting and also accompanied by graphs and tables. Particularly, the results show that the cities in the GBA show a phenomenon of “polarization” of cultural industry development, and regional coordinated development needs to be strengthened.
Furthermore, Guangzhou’s tourism industry has the highest level of development, followed by Shenzhen. Hovewer, Table 3 in pages 8 and 9 must to be improved and formatted because is not readable and Table 4 in page 9 does not contain the caption.
6) Discussion paragraph: Please, divide discussion and conclusions paragraphs into two separate elements. This is a confused paragraph and theoretical and managerial implications could be parts of the conclusions.
7) Conclusion: please insert a limitations and practical implication notes.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Reviewer #2: Please, taking into the follow recommendation:

Response

We appreciate your taking the time to offer us your comments and insights related to our paper. We found your feedback very constructive and useful as we approached our revision. We tried to be responsive to your concerns and hope you find these revisions meet your expectations.

COMMENT 1

The abstract presents the case study, the results, but the information about objectives, methods and theoretical background are absent.

►RESPONSE

Thank you for the constructive comment. Both abstract and introduction have been modified as following:

The Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) is the largest and most populated urban area in the world. GBA has a total area of 56,000 km2 and is in South China with the most competitive cities. The GBA has a population of approximately 5% of the total population of China. Already dubbed “richer than Silicon Valley,” the expected GDP of the GBA by 2030 would be larger than the current GDP of Germany, making it the highest GDP among other bay areas, according to a report by PwC. With a rich culture and heritage-related resources, GBA is a world-class famous tourist destination. With strong economic vitality, a high degree of inclusiveness and openness, and leading innovation capabilities, the development of GBA is a priority for the government.

Destination marketing has received considerable attention for the past several years. However, the sustainable tourism development in GBA has not yet been systematically studied. For example, very few studies have been done to explore the differences in the tourism industry’s convergence of cities within this urban agglomeration. Within a modern tourism format, culture has become a key product and created distinctiveness in an increasingly crowded global marketplace. Exploring the issue of convergence between tourism and culture in GBA based on tourist arrivals from different destinations and identifying the influencing factors is conducive to promoting multidimensional sustainability in tourism, designing long-term recovery strategies, and providing ongoing support and constructive guidance for delivering tourism services. 

Under the background of cultural and tourism integration, the purpose of this research was threefold: 1) to conduct a dynamic analysis to estimate the trend in the coupled development of the tourism and culture industries; 2) to explore the influencing factors that contribute to the coupling relationship between the tourism and culture industries; and 3) to provide a reference for macro-policy formulation in GBA regarding the sustainable development of the tourism industry. Against this background, a sequential mixed-methods design consisting of three steps was adopted to achieve these research objectives. An aggregated evaluation index system was constructed to assess the impact of tourism clusters on local development. The commonly used entropy weight method was then adopted to determine the weights of the relative importance of the criteria. The coordination degree model was built to evaluate the degree of coupling coordination in tourism development.

COMMENT 2

The introduction contains: presentation of “dual circulation” concept in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) that involves Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao, the aims of the research and the methodology used in the study and based on a sequential mixed-methods that consisting of three steps.

►RESPONSE

Thank you for the constructive comment. This section has been modified as following:

The coronavirus pandemic has spread rapidly around the world and substantially affected all sectors of the world economy. Many emerging markets and developing countries have implemented domestic consumption-driven economic rebalancing to reduce their reliance on overseas markets and technology in their long-term development. In the context of this new “dual circulation” development paradigm, which is being constructed at a high speed, the domestic market plays a pivotal role in resource allocation and economic growth. With the gradual control of the epidemic and the release of huge consumer demand from the people, domestic tourism has become a favorable starting point for promoting economic recovery and driving the internal cycle of the economy. Under severe economic conditions and health crises, tourism can contribute to people’s well-being and quality of life[1][2]. The domestic tourism sector is set to enjoy further growth in China bolstered by huge opportunities unleashed by the “dual circulation” path. The early strategy to boost cultural attraction and regional competitiveness, and the comparative advantage of tourism destinations could be changed by the “dual circulation” paradigm[3].

COMMENT 3

Literature review: brief with in-depth analysis on “industrial convergence”.

►RESPONSE

Thank you for the constructive comment. Literature review part has been modified as following:

In general, the term convergence can be used to describe the coming together of two different entities. In the world of technology, the meaning of convergence refers to different technological systems that move towards performing a range of identical or similar duties. Over the past year, the blurring of boundaries between industries through the convergence of elements has been an emerging trend as a response to the global economy. Convergence is usually related to integration and coordination to show a similar trend among industries[4][5][6]. Industrial convergence is an important phenomenon in the development of modern industry. “Industrial convergence” can be defined as the blurring of industry boundaries through the integration of interactive elements, such as tech-led strategies, valuation, and business models[7][8]. Industrial convergence is characterized by a gradual and continuous unsolidified and dynamic process[9]. 

The convergence between tourism and culture, and the increasing interest of visitors in history, preservation, heritage sites, and cultural activities, bring incredible opportunities but also immediate challenges for the core business model of tourism. Over the past several years, as a popular term, convergence is an emerging branch of tourism research and has been widely known, cited, and mentioned explicitly in the development of tourism destinations. Cultural tourism is a modality that has been expanding over the past 20 years. It has recorded strong growth and has become one of the largest and fastest-growing global tourism markets. Cultural tourism is a trend of many countries and regions. Cultural tourism has the conditions and characteristics required for industrial convergence and is an important practical form of modern industrial convergence and development. Today, it is widely accepted that cultures are not naturally bounded entities and involve multiple aspects across borders and the global marketplace[10][11].

The convergence between tourism and culture and the increasing interest of visitors in cultural experiences provide unique opportunities as well as complex challenges for the global economy from different perspectives. Previous studies have used the evaluation model of the coordination degree to explore the integration between the culture and tourism sectors. For example, the direct economic impact of tourism development can be measured by evaluating investment efficiency[12], the synergy of the tourism industry and regional innovation[13], competitiveness evaluation and regional synergy[14] and the integration of the cultural tourism industry and influencing factors[15][16]. In recent years, research on the convergence between tourism and culture has been making significant progress in digital transformation. However, few has investigated the convergence between tourism and culture industries in the Greater Bay Area which consists of nine cities and two special administrative regions in South China from the economic development and opening up perspective.

COMMENT 4

Methodology: is adequately described and there different subsections in order to present the study area (GBA), the evaluation on Convergence model used for analyzing the topic and the factoring that determines the real convergence.

►RESPONSE:

Thank you for the constructive comment. Methodology part has been modified as following:

The GBA comprises nine municipalities within Guangdong province, plus two Special Administrative Region cities – Hong Kong and Macau. Due to the large differences in the economic statistics and related measures between the Hong Kong and Macau Special Administrative Regions, this study takes the Pearl River Delta nine cities as the research object. The data from 2010 to 2019 were collected from the statistical yearbook of local cities, the official website of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China, and the National Bureau of Statistics of the People’s Republic of China.

Based on the key findings synthesized from the empirical and conceptual articles [16][17], a comprehensive and methodical evaluation index system was established to measure industrial convergence between cultural and tourism industries (Table 1).

COMMENT 5

Results paragraph: the results are interesting and also accompanied by graphs and tables. Particularly, the results show that the cities in the GBA show a phenomenon of “polarization” of cultural industry development, and regional coordinated development needs to be strengthened. Furthermore, Guangzhou’s tourism industry has the highest level of development, followed by Shenzhen. Hovewer, Table 3 in pages 8 and 9 must to be improved and formatted because is not readable and Table 4 in page 9 does not contain the caption.

►RESPONSE

Thank you for the constructive comment. This section has been modified accordingly.

COMMENT 6

Discussion paragraph: Please, divide discussion and conclusions paragraphs into two separate elements. This is a confused paragraph and theoretical and managerial implications could be parts of the conclusions.

►RESPONSE

Thank you for the constructive comment. The final section has been modified as following:

An impact factor dynamics model was developed in this study, which can be used to analyze the correlation between the impact factor and elements. It has been quantitatively confirmed that economic development, government expenditure, urbanization construction, and technological innovation all play a pivotal role in accelerating the integrated planning of regional cultural tourism. The evolution of cultural tourism is driven by several factors. With improvements in general living standards, an increasing number of people are participating in tourism activities to pursue cultural experience and spiritual enjoyment. The government provides more financial support for the development of the cultural tourism industry, which helps improve the infrastructure construction required for the integration of the cultural tourism industry and promotes the integrated development of the two. Urbanization is conducive to adjusting the industrial structure, improving traffic conditions, and simultaneously bringing in human capital, thus affecting the integration of culture and the tourism economy. Technological innovation plays an important role in all aspects of the cultural tourism industry activities, including elements, products and services, markets and systems, and many other aspects of culture, tourism management, and operation models.

COMMENT 7

Conclusion: please insert a limitations and practical implication notes.

►RESPONSE

Thank you for the constructive comment. This final section has been modified as following:

This study has several limitations that need to be addressed in future studies. First,

urbanization construction is conducive to adjusting the industrial structure, improving traffic conditions, and simultaneously bringing about human capital, thus affecting the development of the culture and tourism economy. Future studies could get rid of the “population urbanization” concept of achievement, appropriately control the population size, pay special attention to the quality of life and welfare among urban residents. Second, from the perspective of technological innovation, cultural tourism-related enterprises in GBA can use modern scientific and technological means to digitize and virtualize cultural tourism resources, such as VR technology, to increase the immersive cultural experience of tourists, meet high-level and diverse needs, and promote deeper integration of the culture and tourism industry. Future studies could incorporate digital culture and tourism resources into mass communication systems to enhance the influence of regional cultural tourism to a certain extent.

Reviewer 3 Report

Thank you very much for submitting this paper. Overall, I think it is an interesting approach to check influencing factors of tourism development.

The paper does not really fit to the special issue topic – I guess the special issue is focusing on “the new normal” and thus I do not see any connection to the target of the special issue. Furthermore, I think the paper can be improved by following these recommendations:

First of all, the research gap needs to be demonstrated in the first chapter of the paper. The authors should better describe why this research is closing a certain gap and how it contributes to theory.

Second, the literature review is very scarce and thus, superficial. The paper deals with convergence, ok – but also with cultural tourism and tourism development. Therefore, I strongly recommend to illustrate both cultural tourism and tourism development and furthermore, clarify potential linkages between these two concepts (by citing core literature in this field!).

I think the empirical survey is well-written and has its merit. The discussion, however, promises theoretical contributions. But in its present form these theoretical contributions are not existent. The discussion needs to discuss the results in the light of earlier research in the field of cultural tourism/tourism development. Therefore, this part closely is connected to the results but also to the literature review (which is the other area where I think the authors need to analyze more in-depth). Furthermore, I cannot see the theoretical contribution of the analysis – the managerial implications are fine.

Finally, the authors need to critically discuss their approach/methodology and based on that derive research implications. These are missing.

So please, try to improve the literature review and theory discussion as well as the discussion of the results in light of earlier work.

Author Response

Reviewer #3: Thank you very much for submitting this paper. Overall, I think it is an interesting approach to check influencing factors of tourism development. The paper does not really fit to the special issue topic – I guess the special issue is focusing on “the new normal” and thus I do not see any connection to the target of the special issue. Furthermore, I think the paper can be improved by following these recommendations:

Response

We appreciate your taking the time to offer us your comments and insights related to our paper. We found your feedback very constructive and useful as we approached our revision. We tried to be responsive to your concerns and hope you find these revisions meet your expectations.

COMMENT 1

First of all, the research gap needs to be demonstrated in the first chapter of the paper. The authors should better describe why this research is closing a certain gap and how it contributes to theory.

►RESPONSE

Thank you for the constructive comment. This section has been modified as following:

Destination marketing has received considerable attention for the past several years. However, the sustainable tourism development in GBA has not yet been systematically studied. For example, very few studies have been done to explore the differences in the tourism industry’s convergence of cities within this urban agglomeration. Within a modern tourism format, culture has become a key product and created distinctiveness in an increasingly crowded global marketplace. Exploring the issue of convergence between tourism and culture in GBA based on tourist arrivals from different destinations and identifying the influencing factors is conducive to promoting multidimensional sustainability in tourism, designing long-term recovery strategies, and providing ongoing support and constructive guidance for delivering tourism services. 

Under the background of cultural and tourism integration, the purpose of this research was threefold: 1) to conduct a dynamic analysis to estimate the trend in the coupled development of the tourism and culture industries; 2) to explore the influencing factors that contribute to the coupling relationship between the t tourism and culture industries; and 3) to provide a reference for macro-policy formulation in GBA regarding the sustainable development of the tourism industry. Against this background, a sequential mixed-methods design consisting of three steps was adopted to achieve these research objectives. An aggregated evaluation index system was constructed to assess the impact of tourism clusters on local development. The commonly used entropy weight method was then adopted to determine the weights of the relative importance of the criteria. The coordination degree model was built to evaluate the degree of coupling coordination in tourism development. 

COMMENT 2

Second, the literature review is very scarce and thus, superficial. The paper deals with convergence, ok – but also with cultural tourism and tourism development. Therefore, I strongly recommend to illustrate both cultural tourism and tourism development and furthermore, clarify potential linkages between these two concepts (by citing core literature in this field!).

►RESPONSE

Thank you for the constructive comment. This section has been modified as following:

In general, the term convergence can be used to describe the coming together of two different entities. In the world of technology, the meaning of convergence refers to different technological systems that move towards performing a range of identical or similar duties. Over the past year, the blurring of boundaries between industries through the convergence of elements has been an emerging trend as a response to the global economy. Convergence is usually related to integration and coordination to show a similar trend among industries[4][5][6]. Industrial convergence is an important phenomenon in the development of modern industry. “Industrial convergence” can be defined as the blurring of industry boundaries through the integration of interactive elements, such as tech-led strategies, valuation, and business models[7][8]. Industrial convergence is characterized by a gradual and continuous unsolidified and dynamic process[9]. 

The convergence between tourism and culture, and the increasing interest of visitors in history, preservation, heritage sites, and cultural activities, bring incredible opportunities but also immediate challenges for the core business model of tourism. Over the past several years, as a popular term, convergence is an emerging branch of tourism research and has been widely known, cited, and mentioned explicitly in the development of tourism destinations. Cultural tourism is a modality that has been expanding over the past 20 years. It has recorded strong growth and has become one of the largest and fastest-growing global tourism markets. Cultural tourism is a trend of many countries and regions. Cultural tourism has the conditions and characteristics required for industrial convergence and is an important practical form of modern industrial convergence and development. Today, it is widely accepted that cultures are not naturally bounded entities and involve multiple aspects across borders and the global marketplace[10][11].

The convergence between tourism and culture and the increasing interest of visitors in cultural experiences provide unique opportunities as well as complex challenges for the global economy from different perspectives. Previous studies have used the evaluation model of the coordination degree to explore the integration between the culture and tourism sectors. For example, the direct economic impact of tourism development can be measured by evaluating investment efficiency[12], the synergy of the tourism industry and regional innovation[13], competitiveness evaluation and regional synergy[14] and the integration of the cultural tourism industry and influencing factors[15][16]. In recent years, research on the convergence between tourism and culture has been making significant progress in digital transformation. However, few has investigated the convergence between tourism and culture industries in the Greater Bay Area which consists of nine cities and two special administrative regions in South China from the economic development and opening up perspective.

COMMENT 3

I think the empirical survey is well-written and has its merit. The discussion, however, promises theoretical contributions. But in its present form these theoretical contributions are not existent. The discussion needs to discuss the results in the light of earlier research in the field of cultural tourism/tourism development. Therefore, this part closely is connected to the results but also to the literature review (which is the other area where I think the authors need to analyze more in-depth). Furthermore, I cannot see the theoretical contribution of the analysis – the managerial implications are fine.

►RESPONSE

Thank you for the constructive comment. This section has been modified as following:

Destination marketing has received considerable attention for the past several years. However, the sustainable tourism development in GBA has not yet been systematically studied. For example, very few studies have been done to explore the differences in the tourism industry’s convergence of cities within this urban agglomeration. Within a modern tourism format, culture has become a key product and created distinctiveness in an increasingly crowded global marketplace. Exploring the issue of convergence between tourism and culture in GBA based on tourist arrivals from different destinations and identifying the influencing factors is conducive to promoting multidimensional sustainability in tourism, designing long-term recovery strategies, and providing ongoing support and constructive guidance for delivering tourism services. 

COMMENT 4

Finally, the authors need to critically discuss their approach/methodology and based on that derive research implications. These are missing.

►RESPONSE

Thank you for the constructive comment. This section has been modified as following:

Two or more chaotic and mechanical systems are coupled when they interact with or dependent from each other. This interaction phenomenon is complex in its manifestations, and interrelationships involve and integrate various system components in a variety of ways; they are dynamic and change at a variety of timescales[18].

COMMENT 5

So please, try to improve the literature review and theory discussion as well as the discussion of the results in light of earlier work.

►RESPONSE

Thank you for the constructive comment. This section has been modified as following:

In general, the term convergence can be used to describe the coming together of two different entities. In the world of technology, the meaning of convergence refers to different technological systems that move towards performing a range of identical or similar duties. Over the past year, the blurring of boundaries between industries through the convergence of elements has been an emerging trend as a response to the global economy. Convergence is usually related to integration and coordination to show a similar trend among industries[4][5][6]. Industrial convergence is an important phenomenon in the development of modern industry. “Industrial convergence” can be defined as the blurring of industry boundaries through the integration of interactive elements, such as tech-led strategies, valuation, and business models[7][8]. Industrial convergence is characterized by a gradual and continuous unsolidified and dynamic process[9]. 

The convergence between tourism and culture, and the increasing interest of visitors in history, preservation, heritage sites, and cultural activities, bring incredible opportunities but also immediate challenges for the core business model of tourism. Over the past several years, as a popular term, convergence is an emerging branch of tourism research and has been widely known, cited, and mentioned explicitly in the development of tourism destinations. Cultural tourism is a modality that has been expanding over the past 20 years. It has recorded strong growth and has become one of the largest and fastest-growing global tourism markets. Cultural tourism is a trend of many countries and regions. Cultural tourism has the conditions and characteristics required for industrial convergence and is an important practical form of modern industrial convergence and development. Today, it is widely accepted that cultures are not naturally bounded entities and involve multiple aspects across borders and the global marketplace[10][11].

The convergence between tourism and culture and the increasing interest of visitors in cultural experiences provide unique opportunities as well as complex challenges for the global economy from different perspectives. Previous studies have used the evaluation model of the coordination degree to explore the integration between the culture and tourism sectors. For example, the direct economic impact of tourism development can be measured by evaluating investment efficiency[12], the synergy of the tourism industry and regional innovation[13], competitiveness evaluation and regional synergy[14] and the integration of the cultural tourism industry and influencing factors[15][16]. In recent years, research on the convergence between tourism and culture has been making significant progress in digital transformation. However, few has investigated the convergence between tourism and culture industries in the Greater Bay Area which consists of nine cities and two special administrative regions in South China from the economic development and opening up perspective.

Round 2

Reviewer 3 Report

Thank you for the very good revision. There is only one important issue. The discussion/theoretical contribution does not discuss the results in light of earlier literature. Theoretical contributions are usually referring to theory or at least to articles testing the same model or similar model. Therefore, the interpretation and reflection of data is still not sufficient. Can the authors improve section 5.1 with inclusion of earlier work?

Author Response

Thank you very much for these constructive comments regarding our revised manuscript. Per your request, we have modified the section 5.1 accordingly. Please see the following for your kind reference (Page 11, second paragraph):

“Limited studies have been conducted on exploring the special role of the overall culture and heritage-related travel of the Greater Bay Area over a long period of time despite the fact that the region has developed a comprehensive industry chain and has become an arts and culture destination. An impact factor dynamics model was developed in this study, which can be used to analyze the correlation between the impact factor and elements. It has been quantitatively confirmed that economic development, government expenditure, urbanization construction, and technological innovation all play a pivotal role in accelerating the integrated planning of regional cultural tourism. The evolution of cultural tourism is driven by several factors. With improvements in general living standards, an increasing number of people are participating in tourism activities to pursue cultural experience and spiritual enjoyment. The government provides more financial support for the development of the cultural tourism industry, which helps improve the infrastructure construction required for the integration of the cultural tourism industry and promotes the integrated development of the two. Urbanization is conducive to adjusting the industrial structure, improving traffic conditions, and simultaneously bringing in human capital, thus affecting the integration of culture and the tourism economy. Technological innovation plays an important role in all aspects of the cultural tourism industry activities, including elements, products and services, markets and systems, and many other aspects of culture, tourism management, and operation models”.