A Study On The Impact Of High-speed Rail On The Growth Of Regional Tourism

Under the background of China’s large-scale high-speed rail construction and rapid development of tourism,high-speed rail is rapidly affecting the development of tourism,and becoming an important condition for the development of tourism.In this context,studying the impact of HSR on regional tourism will help to better understand the relationship between transportation and tourism development,and help urban decision makers understand the tourism caused by the acceleration of passenger transportation from the perspective of regional transportation,which has positive significance for the development planning of HSR and tourism.So what role does the HSR play in the development of regional tourism? Will the opening of the HSR affect the regional tourism industry? What is the impact of the opening of the HSR on regional tourism? Is this effect significant? To what extent? Is the impact heterogeneous at different times and on different cities? This article establishes a theoretical analysis framework that HSR influences the travel time and space behavior of tourists,enhances the attraction and reception of tourist destinations,and promotes the development and competitive development of tourist destinations,reveals the internal mechanism of HSR opening and affects the growth of regional tourism.The influence degree,direction and heterogeneity of the HSR opening on regional tourism growth were verified and tested by detailed data.Based on panel data of 78 prefecture-level cities in East China from 2008 to 2017,this paper uses the GIS spatial analysis method,difference-in-difference model(DID),and propensity score matching(PSM).Firstly,in the context of the regional HSR network formation process,the characteristics of the spatiotemporal evolution of regional tourism growth were analyzed.Secondly,the impact of HSR opening on regional tourism growth was empirically estimated using the DID model,and a "parallel trend" test was conducted with the help of PSM.Further the net effect of HSR on tourism growth is estimated by PSM-DID.Finally,by calculating the accessibility of urban railway traffic,the heterogeneity impact of HSR opening on tourism growth was estimated by time period,accessibility and whether it is a provincial capital or a major tourist city,and passed the corresponding robustness tests.The study finds that the tourism in East China has a “center-periphery” distribution pattern with provincial capital cities and core tourism cities as the core.In the context of HSR,the development of tourism within the urban agglomeration presents a cyclic structure and spreads outward.HSR plays a positive role in promoting the development and competition of regional tourism,guiding passenger flow and driving tourism growth.Further research found that HSR opening has promoted the growth of urban tourism in East China,bringing about an increase in tourism revenue of about 17.99%,and an increase in the number of tourists of about 14.07%.With the continuous improvement of HSR network,the contribution of HSR to the growth of regional tourism is also further enhanced.In areas with low accessibility,HSR opening has a greater impact on the growth of tourism than those with high accessibility.The impact of high-speed rail on provincial capital cities and core tourism cities is greater than other cities.The intensity of tourism resources and cultural resources,the scale of tourism market and the level of transportation development all play a role in promoting the tourism growth.