Spatio-temporal characteristics of carbon emission efficiency in the tourism regions of China’s three northeastern provinces

The three provinces of northeastern China are significant tourist destinations. The associated carbon emission issue in this region serves as a scientific foundation for the development planning of tourism. There is a lack of research into tourism carbon emission efficiency (CEE). This study collected the relevant data between 2010 and 2020 to gauge CEE in the three northeastern provinces using the super-slack-based measure (SBM) model. The spatio-temporal characteristics of CEE were analysed using the ML index and Moran's I index. The findings revealed that, between 2010 and 2020, the tourism CEE of the three northeastern provinces followed the order of Heilongjiang < Jilin < Liaoning, with an overall trend of initially decreasing and then increasing.