Abstract: Disscusion of coupling and coordinated development of tourism industry and regional economy is conducive to promoting the sustainable development of regional tourism industry and regional economy. Based on the coupling coordination model and exploratory spatial data analysis, this paper takes 26 cities in the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration as the research subjects to analyze the spatial and temporal differences of the coordinated development of tourism industry and regional economy in the region from 2000 to 2017. The results show that: 1) the overall level of tourism development in the region shows an upward trend, with Shanghai developing fastest, with an average growth rate of 23%. There are large spatial differences and unbalanced development; 2) the level of economic development shows an increasing trend year by year, and the spatial differences gradually narrow, and the development from polarization to balanced distribution. 3) The degree of coupling and coordination is increasing year by year. Hefei and Chizhou are the fastest growing cities, while Yancheng, Nantong and Maanshan are the slowest growing cities. 4) The degree of coupling coordination decreases from southeast to northwest. Accordingly, suggestions are put forward from the aspects of construction management mechanism, economy-driven tourism, product research and development, regional cooperation and so on, in order to promote the coupling and coordinated development of tourism industry and regional economy in the region.

Key words: coupling coordination model, tourism industry, regional economy, coordinated development, Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration