Implementing changes in industry structure is important for economic development, but current research on this is limited in the tourism industry. This paper discusses the character of structural changes in the tourism industry in China from the point of view of structural rationalization and optimization from 1997 to 2011, and the structural rationalization refers to coupling coordination between input and output of tourism industrial sectors, the optimization refers to the tourism industrial sectors with higher productivity grows continuously, and three major conclusions are identified. First, there is a national trend towards optimizing the structure of China's tourism industry, but the trend towards rationalizing that structure is decreasing. Second, the regional differences in these trends among the eastern, central and western provinces of China are clear after 2003. The eastern provinces of China are now ahead of the others in optimizing the structure of the tourism industry, and the central provinces are best from the perspective of rationalization. Third, the process of optimizing the structure of the tourism industry is steady, but rationalization has shown larger fluctuations after 2003. This paper analyses the reasons for these trends in structural change within the tourism industry, and why optimization of the present structure has increased quickly in eastern China. At the same time, this paper develops an econometric model to explore the effects of improvements in the structure of the tourism industry on growth of the tourism economy, based on a panel data set from 30 provinces in China covering the years from 1997 to 2011. The results show the following. First, the effect of structural change of the tourism industry on growth of the tourism economy is positive, universal and persistent, but this contribution has decreased gradually over time. Second, while the contributions from structural change of the tourism industry to growth of the tourism economy are different in the various stages of development from 1997 to 2011, those gained from the rationalization of the structure of the tourism industry are steadier and more sustainable when compared with those from optimization. Third, the observable decline in structural rationalization is causing harm to the development of the tourism economy, and has reduced the positive effects of the industry's optimization in the eastern and western provinces of China after 2003. Finally, the results identifying the effects of industrial change on growth of the tourism economy are robust even when alternative measures of growth and different model specifications are applied. Some possible reasons for these results are discussed. Based on the above conclusions, some suggestions are made to assist the healthy development of the structure of China's tourism industry. First, rationalization of the structure of the tourism industry is essential for tourism economic development, and is key to the promotion of a sustained, stable, and coordinated tourism economy. The government should therefore give more priority to rationalizing the structure of the tourism industry in its policy-making processes, and ensure that this progresses steadily. Second, the most conspicuous feature of the tourism industry in China is the structural imbalances found in different provinces, and therefore industry restructuring policies relating to tourism should focus on equalizing these regional differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]