A DEA-based measurement of effectiveness of provincial image advertisement for local tourism destination: evidence from China

Global economic depression makes competition of tourism industry shift from individual tourist attraction to tourism region covering many tourist attractions in order to save operating costs, and regional image advertising of destination has become an important tool to coordinate the operation behaviours among different managers of tourist attractions. However, is the regional image advertising effective? This paper firstly introduces data envelopment analysis (DEA) to evaluate the efficiency of provincial image advertising in China; furthermore, estimates a regression model to identify the impact factors of advertising efficiency. Results show that the overall efficiency of Chinese provincial image advertising is relatively low. In terms of regional distribution, the east and west areas are more efficient than the central. And gross provincial production, the distribution density of scenic spots and marketing size of destination are the important impact factors influencing advertising efficiency, with the former two exerting a significantly positive effect while the latter a negative one.