Urbanization and tourism economic development

•Urbanization significantly drives tourism economic growth through enhanced transportation, technology innovation, and public services.•Regional characteristics determine urbanization's impact - stronger effects in areas with rich cultural and heritage resources.•Coastal regions show greater tourism economic benefits from urbanization compared to inland areas.•Areas with diverse tourism attractions beyond food tourism experience stronger positive effects from urbanization.•World heritage sites amplify the positive relationship between urbanization and tourism economic development. This study took China as a case study to examine the impact of urbanization efforts on tourism economic growth based on provincial panel data. We investigated factors influencing tourism economic development and the role of urbanization. Urbanization has significantly bolstered the tourism economy through mechanisms such as enhancing the transportation network, scientific and technological innovation, and public service levels. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that the effects of urbanization on the tourism economy vary across regions due to differences in tourist resources. Urbanization had a more significant positive impact on the tourism economy in regions with a richer presence of red cultural resources, world heritage sites, coastal locations, and areas where food preferences did not dominate tourist appeal. The study provides targeted recommendations for economically advanced and developing countries to support tourism economic growth. These insights can guide tourism development by aligning urbanization efforts with regional resource characteristics.