Tourism Distribution Research Articles

Tourist-recreational impact on the Moscow–St. Petersburg macroregion: a multi-scale assessment using Big Data

The possibilities of using one of the varieties of Big Data – geolocalized photographs – as an objective indicator of the spatial distribution and intensity of tourist and recreational load within the macroregion “From Moscow to St. Petersburg” allocated within the framework of the State Program for Tourism Development are considered. The study uses an original geoinformation model assembled on the basis of freely distributed OpenStreetMap layers and photo points localized in space and time. It allows, on the one hand, to characterize the features of the placement of attractors (natural, cultural) and tourist and recreational infrastructure, on the other – to objectively assess the spatial distribution of the presence of tourists and recreants within the macroregion and describe the specifics of their intra-annual (seasonal) “attraction”. Aggregation of photography points into polygons, taking into account the differentiated clustering distance, made it possible to form areas of seasonal (summer, winter and spring-autumn) stay of tourists, as well as to get an idea of the minimum year-round and maximum episodic areas within the macroregion and individual areas exposed to the potential impact of tourists and recreants. The differences between the minimum and maximum areas of stay of tourists and recreants are proposed to be used to assess the effectiveness of the functioning of the industry in the areas of the macroregion. The obtained spatial areas and patterns of tourists’ presence open up opportunities for an objective assessment of the potential load on natural and cultural heritage sites. The uneven inclusion of both natural and cultural attractors in the sphere of tourism and recreation has been revealed, which leads to a situation where some objects of natural and cultural heritage experience significant industry pressure, while others remain almost or completely unaffected by the presence of tourists and recreants.

Where and Why Travelers Visit? Classifying Coastal Tourism Activities Using Geotagged Image Content from Social Media Data

Accurate information regarding the size, activity, and distribution of coastal tourists is essential for the effective management and planning of coastal tourism. In this study, geotagged photos uploaded to social network services were classified to identify coastal tourism activities. These activities were linked with spatial-scale data on tourist numbers estimated from social media data. To classify the activities, which included recreation, appreciation, education, and other activities, an image-supervised classification model was trained using 12,229 images, and the test accuracy was found to be 0.7244. On the Flickr platform, 43% of the image data located in the coastal land of South Korea are other activities, 39% are appreciation activities, and 18% are recreation and education activities. Other activities are mainly located in urban areas with a high population density and are spatially concentrated, while appreciation activities are mainly located in the natural environment and tend to be spatially spread out. Data on tourist activity categorization through content classification, combined with traditional tourist volume estimates, can help us understand previously overlooked information and context about a space.

Sustainable Spatial Distribution and Determinants of Key Rural Tourism Villages in China: Promoting Balanced Regional Development

Understanding the spatial distribution and sustainable development of rural tourism is essential for promoting balanced regional growth and formulating optimized policy strategies. This study aims to provide insights into sustainable development and policy optimization. Utilizing geographic information system technology, dominance analysis, and Geodetector statistical methods, this research offers a comprehensive examination of the spatial patterns and determinants of these distributions. The findings reveal significant regional disparities and clustering, with a higher concentration of key villages in economically developed eastern and central regions and fewer in the less developed western regions. The dominance analysis highlights that provinces such as Zhejiang, Shandong, and Beijing demonstrate strong advantages across multiple dimensions, including ecological environment, economic development, tourism infrastructure, transportation accessibility, policy support, and social development. Conversely, regions such as Ningxia, Qinghai, and Tibet exhibit lower dominance scores, indicating challenges in rural tourism development due to limited resources and infrastructure. Key influencing factors include forest coverage, GDP per capita, the number of star-rated hotels, transportation network density, policy initiatives, and urbanization rates. The results underscore the importance of a multi-dimensional approach to enhance rural tourism competitiveness and suggest targeted strategies for underperforming regions. This study contributes to advancing the theoretical framework of sustainable rural tourism and provides actionable insights for policymakers to foster balanced regional development, ecological conservation, and community-centered tourism practices.

Statistical analysis of the type and seasonality of tourist arrivals at a UNESCO sightseeing tourism site: the example of Chernivtsi, Ukraine

In this research paper, a statistical analysis of the type and seasonality of arrivals to the former Residence of the Bukovina Metropolitans in Chernivtsi (Ukraine) was carried out. Based on a time series for 2000–2023, types were considered according to such categories as adults, pupils/students and domestic visitors or inbound tourists by country of origin. Each of them was considered over the time series. The results of the analysis allow us to establish the effects of the factors influencing tourist flows on ‘calm’ Chernivtsi in a country at war. Thus, it is possible to see nuances to the influence of threats and dangers on domestic and inbound tourism in Ukraine. The analysis of seasonality, thanks to the location in the mid‑latitudes, has made it possible to establish the influence of climate on the distribution of tourism throughout the year. The UNESCO status of the former Residence of the Bukovina Metropolitans increases the value of the research not only due to the analysis, but also due to the primary data to which the authors had exclusive access, as university teachers located on the site. This research paper is a follow‑up to that presented in “Methodical approaches and statistical analysis of tourist arrivals to centers of sightseeing tourism (based on the example of Chernivtsi, Ukraine)” (Korol, Krul, Zayachuk & Kostash, 2023).

MICE tourism product value chain

MICE tourism is a segment of the tourism industry that, due to its singularity, requires specific attention. This article offers a holistic approach to the channel of distribution of MICE tourism and targets two main objectives: the proposal of a conceptual framework that depicts all stakeholders, flows of action and possibilities of intermediation and study of the process of intermediation in order to analyze its present status and future development. To achieve our goal in this study, we used research methods - literature analysis, study of scientific publications, scientific research, and also used the construction of tables and diagrams of interaction between the main stakeholders of MICE tourism. When analyzing materials and writing this article, the following methods were used: general scientific methods of cognition (analysis, synthesis, systematization of theoretical data), system content analysis. The results observe a slow but steady process of disintermediation in which intermediaries are being bypassed in order to reduce costs. However, it also reaches the conclusion that total disintermediation is not feasible due to the high standards of quality service that the MICE market demands.

Understanding Factors Affecting Tourist Distribution in Urban National Parks Based on Big Data and Machine Learning

Understanding Factors Affecting Tourist Distribution in Urban National Parks Based on Big Data and Machine Learning

Collaborative and professional accommodations on Airbnb: Exploring patterns for sustainable tourism management in Spain

This study analyses the characteristics of accommodation types (collaborative and professional) in Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, and Valencia. It examines location factors, including proximity to top tourist spots, concentration of Airbnb accommodations, and population density, to identify which accommodation type contributes to negative impacts in these cities. Additionally, it delves into pricing features, reviews, length of stay, accommodation services, and host characteristics to distinguish between collaborative and professional accommodations.Logistic regression analysis and Random Forest are used, employing 500 decision trees to explore non-linear and complex relationships. Partial dependence plots offer insights into how predictions evolve across different ranges, providing valuable information about the locations, population density, tenure, and reviews associated with the two accommodation types.The findings reveal that professional accommodations tend to be concentrated in areas with high population density and near major tourist attractions, exacerbating tourist overcrowding issues. Conversely, collaborative accommodations are situated more than 4 km away from the main tourist spots, potentially contributing to a more balanced distribution of tourists and avoiding excessive concentration.These findings have significant implications for urban tourism dynamics, offering valuable insights that can inform urban planning, policy development, and sustainable tourism practices.

Assessing Urban Aerial Trails’ Capacity in Xiamen, China: A Quantitative Approach to Physical and Psychological Crowding Perceptions

This study assessed the carrying capacity of an urban aerial trails, considering physical and psychosocial dimensions of crowding. To evaluate physical crowding, the research utilized a quantitative approach to measure tourist density. Psychosocial crowding was assessed using a visual assessment technique. Data collection involved presenting participants with simulated imagery, facilitating the assessment of social and psychological perceptions of crowding on the mountain and sea trails in Xiamen, China. The study found that the discrepancy between physical and psychological crowding primarily arises from the uneven spatial distribution of tourists along the trails. The findings confirm that the proximity of individuals on the trails significantly influences perceived congestion, thereby highlighting the unique nature of congestion analysis and assessment in the context of aerial trails. The research proposes strategies to address the challenges associated with both physical and psychosocial crowding phenomena.

Crowdsourced mapping of tourism distribution and dynamics in Iceland using Flickr

ABSTRACT Social media has become a catalyst for tourism in nature-based destinations, raising management challenges to cope with abrupt visitation growth in sensitive settings. Access to location-based social media data provides valuable material to identify and monitor spatial distribution patterns in tourism visitation and longitudinal trends, especially in vast, remote settings. This paper aims to evaluate the use of Flickr geodata for mapping spatiotemporal dynamics of tourist behaviors in Iceland. The consistency of the Flickr dataset with other proxies supports its validity and relevance. Tourism visitation appears closely related with accessibility factors, which are characterized by a strong seasonal variation. On longer timescales, the data reflect the increase of off-season visitation and the emergence of new tourist sites. This study demonstrates the value and potential of such a dataset to get an overview of the spatial patterns and dynamics of tourism at a national-level and outlines the limits inherent to its use.

Replacing artisanal fisheries with dolphin watching: Strategy for conservation and sustainable community‐based marine ecotourism

Abstract In coastal delphinid conservation, dolphin watching (DW) is frequently proposed for artisanal fishers as a community‐based marine ecotourism (CBME) plan to reduce fishing effort and delphinid bycatch. Questions including whether DW profitability is sufficient to replace fishing and whether fishers can conduct DW sustainably, however, are rarely examined. In the present study, questionnaire targeting tourists was implemented to investigate DW profitability in Sanniang Bay, China where DW‐based CBME has been operated by local fishers since 2004. CBME sustainability was evaluated by comparing DW profitability with household income with reference to local poverty, and rural and economically comfortable families in China. Out of 1046 tourists interviewed, 40 (3.82%) tourists knew there is DW in Sanniang Bay, while 292 (27.9%) tourists were lured to attend DW with low pricing. The fisher earned 110RMB (ca. 16.0$USD) per DW trip and required two, four, and nine trips per day to earn household income higher than poverty, rural and economically comfortable lines. Raising ticket fee and maximizing per‐trip number of tourists can substantially improve DW profitability, which facilitates CBME sustainability and poses minimal impacts on target animals. CBME in rural areas could be trapped into low popularity–low pricing–low profitability embarrassments because of primitive tour facilities, insufficient ecological education value, poor hospitality skills and lacking marketing access. The sustainable CBME should incorporate ecologically friendly conducts, direct indigenous profits with minimal transaction costs, venture and service diversification, and marketing with indigenous cultural characteristics. DW history in Sanniang Bay further indicates profit distribution of tourism ventures directly influence CBME sustainability. Accordingly, indigenous rights, economic equity and social justice should be centrally placed in CBME policying with the minimal intervention from non‐indigenous capitals and commercialized manipulations.

An Analysis on the High-Quality Development Path of Sports Tourism Industry in Shandong Province from the Perspective of Porter Rhomboid Theory

From the perspective of Porter's diamond theory, this paper analyzes the four basic elements of sports tourism in Shandong Province, namely resource elements, demand conditions, related industries and enterprise strategy, as well as the two role elements of opportunity and government, and finds that there are problems such as rich resources but unbalanced distribution of sports tourism in Shandong Province. Based on this, the author puts forward some development paths, such as increasing the mining and publicity of traditional resources, emphasizing the training of sports talents, stimulating the domestic demand of sports tourism, promoting the integration of sports tourism industry with other industries, improving laws and regulations, and strengthening the macro-guidance of the government, in order to provide certain theoretical references for the healthy, sustained and high-quality development of sports tourism industry in Shandong Province.

The democratization of tourism distribution: a Horizon 2050 paper

Purpose Emphasizing the critical role of technology-enabled distribution in tourism, this study, a viewpoint, aims to highlight the potential of democratized technologies in readdressing the competitive imbalance between small- and medium-sized tourism enterprises (SMTEs) and their larger peers in today’s online marketplace. By enhancing competitiveness and performance, democratized technologies can strengthen the resilience, sustainability and competitive position of the SMTEs on which tourism depends, helping to support the Horizon 2050 agenda and UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Design/methodology/approach Examining the development of online and electronic distribution in tourism, the viewpoint identifies the key challenges to the successful use of technology-based distribution systems by SMTEs, as well as highlights the trend toward democratized technologies as a potential solution to help improve technology take-up and performance. Findings With no/low initial capital or operating costs, and little need for technical expertise, democratized technologies have the potential to overcome two of the three key challenges limiting the successful adoption and use of distribution technologies by SMTES. The key blockage remains one of managerial awareness and acceptability. With informal organization structures, little managerial or technical training and an ingrained reluctance to change, SMTE managers remain unfamiliar of the possibilities offered by this developing trend. While this challenge could be addressed by awareness building and training, in the longer run, it is likely that more substantial progress will arise from generational change in SMTE management, with digitally native successors more likely to exploit this development to improve competitiveness and performance. Originality/value Emphasizing the pivotal role that democratized technology can potentially play in redressing the competitive imbalance between SMTEs and their larger peers in the distribution space, this viewpoint serves as a call for action for tourism businesses to re-examine their approach to technology adoption and leverage democratized technologies to address current deficiencies in their distribution approach, helping to improve competitiveness and performance, thus supporting the Horizon 2050 initiative and furthering the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Innovación en los ecosistemas de distribución turística: el papel de los intermediaries y nuevos agentes

Tourism distribution is facing new challenges characterised by accelerating innovation cycles, a shift from traditional to digital business models, and ever-deepening technical know-how, which provide organisations with new opportunities to expand their capabilities and become more competitive. We aim to achieve a comprehensive and updated synthesis of current research approaches to innovation in tourism distribution ecosystems and provide proposals for future studies. This is one of the first thematic reviews to concentrate on how the tourism distribution ecosystem can be understood comprehensively through the application of the 6C framework. The study aims to conduct an in-depth review of 53 selected papers obtained from a specific search criterion employed across widespread repositories of Scopus and Web of Science databases, capturing the period from Jan 2001 to August 2023. In business ecosystems, advancements in information and communications technologies have triggered radical innovations in tourism distribution with the emergence of players with new business models. This affects traditional players who must innovate to remain competitive. An organisational analysis shows that new online players lead product innovation, whereas traditional distributors rely more on process innovation. Organisational innovation has emerged as necessary for both.

Seasonal rockfall risk analysis in a touristic island: Application to the Tramuntana Range (Mallorca, Spain)

Rockfalls are an ever-present possibility in the mountainous context of the Tramuntana Region (Mallorca, Spain). Recent events have shown the high potential for direct and indirect impact on the safety of people and economic activities, lasting for weeks or even months. In the present study, we start from a probabilistic assessment of the rockfall hazard (spatial propensity and temporal recurrence), based on a detailed historical record of occurrences and rockfall modelling, which is subsequently superimposed on three exposure scenarios and on a social vulnerability assessment. Exposure considers the floating population at three seasons of the year, given the area's high tourist aptitude. Vulnerability considers on the one hand the intrinsic characteristics of individuals and, on the other, the characteristics of the surrounding territory that act to facilitate emergency operations, mitigate the immediate impact and enhance rapid recovery. Due to the characteristics of the island and the spatial distribution of tourism, the results show that the highest density of rockfall trajectories potentially affect areas of high exposure, whose access by emergency services is complex. Not being, in general, the areas of highest individual criticality, those areas have in most situations low support capability installed or nearby.The results constitute a useful tool for emergency and risk management planning in multiple sectors linked to risk governance. Despite the high geographic detail of the analysis, these studies do not replace exposure and vulnerability analysis at the building level, for which the contribution of georeferenced Census data is fundamental.

The influence of gastronomic identity factors on food tourism development in the Republic of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The gastronomic identity of an area is the key factor in tourism development, attracting numerous tourists and generating significant income. Numerous economic actors participate in its use and proper placement, and their perception of the gastronomic potential significantly affects its distribution and use in tourism. The main aim of this study is to investigate the factors of gastronomic identity that influence the development of tourism, observed at two tourist destinations in Southeast Europe [the Republic of Serbia (RS) the city of Novi Sad with Fruška Gora Mountain, n = 305 and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH) the city of Sarajevo with Jahorina Mountain, n = 301]. In order to define the factors that are relevant to food tourism development, a custom-made GastroIdentity scale was created. A survey was conducted among employees in the hospitality and tourism industry as well as employees in educational institutions in the field of hospitality and tourism. The research results show that employees from the RS area acknowledge the importance of organizing gastronomic events where local products are presented and that they understand that dishes and beverages with unique and recognizable tastes can characterize their area. Employees from the BIH area pointed out that the nutritional quality of their local agricultural and gastronomic products represents an advantage when compared to mass-produced ones and that the local gastronomic culture and tradition are authentic representatives of the culture of the region. The GastroIdentity scale proved to be dependable, highlighting gastronomic culture and tradition as extremely crucial factors in tourism, using the input provided by the employees from the investigated areas. Noteworthy results were also recorded regarding the need for incentives for food tourism development in the investigated regions.

The Innovative Use of Spatial Syntax in Spatial Design of Tourism Landscape

Abstract In the process of the continuous promotion of regional tourism, how to plan and design the tourism landscape to create a landscape environment with local characteristics and humanization will be the focus of this paper’s research. This paper takes Z tourist-oriented ancient town, as the research sample and centers on its public space characteristics and quality evaluation. The study innovatively applies the spatial syntax method to analyze the public space of the tourism landscape. It quantitatively analyzes the spatial data of the representative villages of the ancient tourist town. Then, the PSPL research method is applied to evaluate the quality of public spaces and living conditions in ancient tourist towns. Among the representative villages, traditional village C5 has the lowest average depth of public space (4.2382) and the highest intelligibility (0.5964), and its public spaces have the best accessibility and permeability. The public space quality of this ancient town was evaluated as excellent, especially in terms of spatial activities and spatial environmental facilities, which tourists rated as greater than 7. The spatial design of the ancient tourist town was divided into a natural ecological recreation area, a tourism distribution and service area, a recreational activities and experience area, and an old street-style commercial area. The study can provide a scientific basis for the protection and renewal of tourist landscapes.

Regression utility analysis of rural red cultural tourism industry chain for rural revitalization

Abstract A large number of red cultural sites preserved in the Chinese countryside, as well as the red spirit are combined with cultural tourism, and the red cultural tourism industry comes into being. This paper takes the service personnel of the rural red cultural tourism industry in County M as the research object, designs the relevant questionnaire, conducts the reliability test, and then obtains the relevant data of rural revitalization and rural red cultural tourism industry chain through the questionnaire survey method. Then, using the industrial environment and policies of the rural red cultural tourism industry chain as the independent variables and rural revitalization as the dependent variable, a round-off multiple regression analysis was carried out to explore the interrelationship between the two. The results show that rural revitalization = 1.374+0.086*tourism projects + 0.147*infrastructure + 0.169*tourism market + 0.177*tourist distribution = 1.074+0.246*history and culture + 0.259*red culture + 0.214*government policies + 0.268*funding inputs. This paper assists Chinese villages in improving the red cultural tourism industry chain and promoting rural revitalization by developing the red cultural tourism industry chain.

Sustainable Urban Planning and Genius Loci: A LDA-Based Analysis of Recreational Landscape Imagery in Hangzhou’s Qiaoxi Historic District

Amidst the impacts of urbanization and commercialization, the cultural and historical essence of neighborhoods is undermined, paralleled by the diminishing Genius Loci. This research explores the previously under-researched area of how urban leisure districts’ spatial design influences tourists’ experiential imagery perceptions and the Genius Loci, aiming to elucidate their dialectical relationship. Leveraging LDA topic modeling and TF-IDF text analysis, we distill behavioral and cognitive imageries from tourist reviews to forge a perception framework of the Genius Loci, bifurcated into spiritual and directional imagery dimensions. Secondary dimensions emerge through TF-IDF keyword extraction. GIS technology further analyzes the spatial distribution of emotional imageries and the spatiotemporal dynamics of emotions, highlighting its significance in sustainable urban development. The findings reveal the multidimensional experiential imageries of tourists in leisure neighborhoods and their impact and feedback on the Genius Loci, offering a new perspective on the interaction between tourists’ emotional spatial experiences and the Genius Loci. It is discovered that tourist perceptions mainly concentrate on “environmental psychological perception dimension” and “spatial orientation perception dimension” with the spatial distribution of tourists’ emotional experiences showing significant temporal dynamics. These results underline a complex interaction between tourists’ experiential imagery and the Genius Loci, suggesting that tourists’ feedback could play a critical role in shaping the evolution of these cultural spaces, emphasizing the need for integrated approaches in urban planning and heritage conservation.

Package Tour Distribution Channels of Major Japanese, Chinese, and South Korean Travel Agents

ABSTRACT This study examines how overseas package tours are designed in China, South Korea, and Japan. It also examines how these tours are arranged between the three countries. The results of in-depth interviews and participant observation showed that the method of creating tours was almost the same across those three countries. However, there were differences in the method of operating tours. In terms of tours from China, Chinese wholesalers prefer other travel agencies as land operators instead of their own foreign subsidiaries; for Japan, they prefer to utilize their foreign subsidiaries; and for South Korea, the wholesaler considers both their subsidiaries and land operators for operating package tours. The concept of “operating power” explains the unique operation of these travel companies. The study concludes that the distribution channels of various package tours are strategically created by wholesalers according to the combination of markets and destinations. It contributes theoretical implications to the study of tourism distribution channels by focusing on regions that have not been included in previous studies. Additionally, it proposes a framework for the process of creating package tours and constructs a concept to explain the diverse ways in which package tours are operated. In terms of practical implications for travel agents, the study provides insights into various tourism distribution channels across different situations.

Spatial sight analysis of Hangzhou Xiaoyingzhou based on tourists' landscape preference

Tourist preferences are important for the high-quality planning and design of recreation spaces. The famous scenic locale of West Lake in Hangzhou, China, is used as an example in this study. Based on multi-source data (e.g., online comments, and tourist photographs), we used content analysis, kernel density estimation, and image semantic segmentation technology to determine the spatial distribution of tourists' landscape preferences. We analyzed these spatial sight characteristics from the viewpoint, sight distance, and perspectives. The results show that tourists' landscape preferences are mainly concentrated on landscape architecture for recreation. The viewpoints of these preferences are concentrated in the north-south embankment—far beyond that of the east-west embankment. The preferences also show a spatial sequence in terms of sight distance, and the best visual effect is the open platform at the north and south islands of Xiaoyingzhou. From the perspective of vision, the degree of spatial openness in the tourists' landscape preferences is proportional to the distance of vision; the two factors have a convergent relationship. The discussion of the characteristics of tourists’ landscape preference and space sight creation in Xiaoyingzhou provides a reference for the quality improvement of island recreation space.