An analysis of the impact and mechanism of new digital infrastructures on travel consumption behaviours of middle-aged and elderly households in China

Abstract

ABSTRACT The significant integration of the ‘internet’ with ‘tourism’ has changed visitor travel motivations and customer behaviour. New digital infrastructure currently provides substantial technical support for deep integration between ‘the internet’ and ‘tourism’. In this work, the HLM model is used to match and merge household-level microdata with regional-level data. The goal is to identify the mechanism underlying the impact of China’s new digital infrastructure on the travel consumption habits of Chinese households. Our analysis shows that: (1) Middle-aged and older households will be much more likely to travel, and their travel expenses will also be more intense, as the intensity of new digital infrastructure increases. (2) The development in the degree of new digital Infrastructure will effect the tourism spending behaviour of middle-aged and senior people by boosting their Internet usage.