Abstract
This paper selects panel data from 30 provinces in mainland China from 2003 to 2017, and empirically explores the role and impact of transportation infrastructure on regional tourism economic development. The results found that the national tourism economy was significantly negatively related to railway density and positively related to highway density, but not significant; the number of employees in travel agencies had little effect on the tourism economy; the urbanization rate, industrial structure, and per capita GDP were significantly positively related to the tourism economy. In terms of different regions, the tourism economy in the western region has a significant negative correlation with railway density and a significant positive correlation with highway density. The regression results of the core explanatory variables in the eastern and central regions are not significant. To promote the development of tourism economy, attention should be paid to the multi-factor synergy that affects regional tourism economic growths; transportation development planning should be integrated with regional macro development planning and the overall tourism development planning; promote urbanization development, upgrade the industrial structure to stimulate the level of tourism consumption and give play to its space spillover effect to promote regional cooperation.
Highlights
In the past 40 years of Economic Reform and Open up, tourism has become the main axis of the national strategy, and transportation is the premise and foundation of tourism development, as well as the bridge between tourism supply and demand
An inter-provincial panel data model of tourism economic income was established, and railway density and highway density were selected as core explanatory variables, and the number of travel agency employees, urban rate, industrial structure and per capita GDP were included as control variables
Based on the panel data of 30 provinces in the Chinese mainland from 2003 to 2017, this paper empirically explores the role and impact of transportation infrastructure on regional tourism economic development
Summary
In the past 40 years of Economic Reform and Open up, tourism has become the main axis of the national strategy, and transportation is the premise and foundation of tourism development, as well as the bridge between tourism supply and demand. As one of the three pillar industries of tourism, tourism transportation is the link between tourists and tourism resources, the important carrier of tourism activities, and plays a vital role in the development of tourism. Many countries regard tourism industry as the entry point of industrial structure adjustment and the breakthrough of reform, in order to play the leading role of tourism industry and promote the revitalization and sound development of economy. The research scope includes travel agency operating income data from 30 provinces in Mainland China from 2003 to 2017 (because some of Tibet’s data is not available, Tibet is excluded). An inter-provincial panel data model of tourism economic income was established, and railway density and highway density were selected as core explanatory variables, and the number of travel agency employees, urban rate, industrial structure and per capita GDP were included as control variables. We can analyse the function of transportation infrastructure to the development of China's tourism economy
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