From designation to development: Policy effects, business environment, and the effectiveness of cultural-tourism integration in China

The integration of cultural and tourism industries serves as a pivotal engine for regional high-quality economic development; however, its economic performance exhibits significant heterogeneity in practice. Utilizing panel data from Chinese prefecture-level cities from 2000 to 2022, this study treats the designations of “National Historical and Cultural City” (NHCC) and “China Excellent Tourism City” (CETC) as quasi-natural experiments. By employing a staggered difference-in-differences (DID) framework, supplemented by instrumental variable (IV) estimation and a series of robustness checks, we identify the differentiated impacts of cultural policies, tourism policies, and their overlap on urban economic growth. The findings reveal a fundamental asymmetry in the transmission mechanisms of different policy orientations. Cultural designations primarily stimulate “passenger flow” through symbolic branding effects, whereas tourism-oriented policies are more effective at activating “logistics flow” channels due to their role in driving infrastructure and commercial networks, thereby generating stronger momentum for economic growth. To address how cultural and tourism sectors can be effectively integrated, this research further identifies two core pathways. First, the mere “stacking” of policies does not equate to functional integration; true synergy requires “synchronous implementation” to overcome the time lag in administrative and industrial coupling, thereby achieving coordinated growth in both passenger and logistics flows. Second, “culture-business-tourism integration” facilitated by a dynamic business environment serves as a critical moderating mechanism that amplifies policy dividends and optimizes economic outcomes. This study provides city-level evidence for understanding the complex mechanisms of cultural–tourism integration and offers policy insights for achieving high-quality, coordinated regional development.