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High-speed rail and tourism expansion in China: a spatial spillover effect perspective

    Fan Zhang Affiliation
    ; Feng Wang Affiliation
    ; Shujie Yao Affiliation
    ; Fanjie Fu Affiliation

Abstract

Tourism exerts a great effect on the modern economy and relies largely on the flow of people facilitated by high-quality transportation infrastructure. Applying a spatial econometric method, this paper investigates the effect of high-speed rail (HSR) on tourism expansion in China from the view of the spatial spillover effect. Based on a 276 Chinese cities’ panel dataset over 2005–2019, a positive role of HSR in tourism expansion is observed. Compared with cities unconnected to the HSR network, cities accessible by HSR experienced a 22% increase in tourism revenue and a 38% rise in tourist arrivals. In addition, the connection of a city to the HSR network also exerts a great spatial spillover role in the increase of tourism revenue and arrivals in peripheral cities which are not directly connected by HSR. The research findings offer important insights on the relationship between transportation infrastructure and tourism with significant policy implications regarding tourism development.


First published online 6 November 2023

Keyword : high-speed rail, tourism, spatial spillover effect, China

How to Cite
Zhang, F., Wang, F., Yao, S., & Fu, F. (2023). High-speed rail and tourism expansion in China: a spatial spillover effect perspective. Technological and Economic Development of Economy, 29(6), 1753–1775. https://doi.org/10.3846/tede.2023.19813
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