摘要：While tourism generates economic benefits at destinations, it also creates certain environmental pressures. In the global context of water scarcity, the spatial and temporal differentiation characteristics of water consumption at tourism destinations have become a focus of attention. Based on panel data, the present study calculates the change trends in China’s tourism water footprint (<i>TWF</i>) in the 2013–2018 period using input-output analysis, analyses the regional differences in <i>TWF</i> changes using kernel density estimation and the Theil index, and investigates the driving factors of the spatial and temporal differentiation of the <i>TWF</i> using the logarithmic mean Divisia index model. The results indicate that (1) the tourism water consumption in China increased year-by-year but that the tourism water use efficiency improved; (2) the proportion of the <i>TWF</i> for accommodation and food in the total <i>TWF</i> gradually increased, while the proportion of the <i>TWF</i> for transportation continuously decreased; (3) the <i>TWF</i> of each region increased continuously, with the absolute difference between regions gradually increasing and the difference in the <i>TWF</i> intensity gradually decreasing; and (4) decomposition analysis showed that the <i>TWF</i> in China was positively driven by per capita expenditure and the number of tourists, with the role of <i>TWF</i> intensity shifting from inhibition to promotion, and that each driving force changed with time. Based on the spatial and temporal differences in the <i>TWF</i>, the provinces in China are divided into five categories, and targeted countermeasures and suggestions are proposed.
