HIGH-SPEED RAIL AND TOURISM EXPANSION IN CHINA: A SPATIAL SPILLOVER EFFECT PERSPECTIVE
基于2005-2019年276个中国城市的面板数据，研究发现高铁连接使城市旅游收入增加22%、游客量增加38%，并对未直接连接高铁的周边城市产生正向空间溢出效应。
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.