Drawing on 2023 sports tourism data, this study employs the DEA-Tobit model to evaluate the efficiency of 18 sports tourism destinations within the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle and investigates the primary factors influencing economic performance. The findings reveal that: (1) The overall efficiency of sports tourism in the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle is relatively high. Pure technical efficiency significantly exceeds overall efficiency, indicating a mature level of management and production technologies. The average scale efficiency is close to the pure technical efficiency; however, only 44.4% of decision-making units (DMUs) operate at optimal scale, primarily due to mismatches between input and output sizes. (2) The most prominent positive driver of efficiency is per capita GDP. Location advantage exhibits a double-edged impact on management efficiency, while traditional explanatory variables such as scenic spot rating and climatic conditions demonstrate limited explanatory power.

Yong Yin. Efficiency Evaluation and Enhancement Path of Sports Tourism in the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle: An Empirical Study Based on the DEA-Tobit Model. Academic Journal of Business & Management (2025), Vol. 7, Issue 10: 41-48. https://doi.org/10.25236/AJBM.2025.071007.

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