This paper examines tourism patterns in peripheral regions, analyzing visitor flows and regional variations using big data from a major travel portal. Covering 10 European peripheral regions from 2016 to 2022, the study maps tourist origins and activity levels, offering insights into how tourism functions in these areas compared to less remote destinations. Our approach, validated against international tourism statistics, maps tourist origins and activity levels, comparing peripheral regions with less remote areas. The findings highlight specific patterns of tourist flows, regional disparities in tourism development, and opportunities for promoting sustainable tourism in underdeveloped regions. The findings reveal specific patterns of tourism dynamics in peripheral regions, contributing to a deeper understanding of how tourism develops in these areas and how it differs from more central destinations.
BehsudiA (2020) Tourism-dependent economies are among those harmed the most by the pandemic. IMF Finance & Development, Washington, DC.
2.
BelFLacroixALyserS, et al. (2015) Domestic demand for tourism in rural areas: insights from summer stays in three French regions. Tourism Management46(C): 562–570.
3.
BergstrandJHLarchMYotovYV (2015) Economic integration agreements, border effects, and distance elasticities in the gravity equation. European Economic Review73: 307–327.
4.
BertacchiniENuccioMDurioA (2021) Proximity tourism and cultural amenities: evidence from a regional museum card. Tourism Economics27(1): 187–204.
5.
BobicSAkhavanM (2022) Tourism gentrification in mediterranean heritage cities. The necessity for multidisciplinary planning. Cities124: 103616.
6.
BorowieckiKJCastiglioneC (2014) Cultural participation and tourism flows: an empirical investigation of Italian provinces. Tourism Economics20(2): 241–262.
7.
BorowieckiKJPedersenMUMitchellSB (2024) Using big data to measure cultural tourism in Europe with unprecedented precision. Tourism Economics31(3): 477–503.
8.
BotterillDOwenEEmanuelL, et al. (2000) Perceptions from the periphery: the experience of Wales. In: BrownFHallD (eds) Tourism in Peripheral Areas, Aspects of Tourism. United Kingdom: Channel View Publications, 7–38.
9.
BrandanoMGCrociataA (2023) Cohesion policy, tourism and culture in Italy: a regional policy evaluation. Regional Studies57(4): 763–779.
10.
BrandanoMGMeledduM (2021) Together or not? Spill-over effects of cultural goods displacement. Tourism Economics27(6): 1202–1220.
11.
CaleroCTurnerLW (2020) Regional economic development and tourism: a literature review to highlight future directions for regional tourism research. Tourism Economics26(1): 3–26.
12.
CambonJHernangómezDBelangerC, et al. (2021) tidygeocoder: an R package for geocoding. Journal of Open Source Software6(65): 3544, R package version 1.0.5.
13.
CerisolaSPanzeraE (2024) Heritage tourism and local prosperity: an empirical investigation of their controversial relationship. Tourism Economics1–20.
14.
ChenC-CChangY-C (2018) What drives purchase intention on Airbnb? Perspectives of consumer reviews, information quality, and media richness. Telematics and Informatics35(5): 1512–1523.
15.
ChengMJinX (2019) What do Airbnb users care about? An analysis of online review comments. International Journal of Hospitality Management76: 58–70.
16.
CuiMChengLShangY (2024) The influence of experiencescape of home-based accommodation on tourists’ subjective well-being at cultural heritage sites: the role of value co- creation. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management31: 100845.
17.
DonatiD (2022) The end of tourist traps: a natural experiment on the impact of tripadvisor on quality upgrading. SSRN Electronic JournalWorking Paper No. 9834.
FaberBGaubertC (2019) Tourism and economic development: evidence from Mexico’s coastline. The American Economic Review109(6): 2245–2293.
27.
FalkMLarpinBScaglioneM (2019) The role of specific attributes in determining prices of Airbnb listings in rural and urban locations. International Journal of Hospitality Management83: 132–140.
28.
FrochotI (2005) A benefit segmentation of tourists in rural areas: a Scottish perspective. Tourism Management26(3): 335–346.
29.
Gil-AlanaLAPozaC (2022) The impact of COVID-19 on the Spanish tourism sector. Tourism Economics28(3): 646–653.
30.
GohCLiHZhangQ (2015) Achieving balanced regional development in China: is domestic or international tourism more efficacious?Tourism Economics21(2): 369–386.
31.
HunterC (1997) Sustainable tourism as an adaptive paradigm. Annals of Tourism Research24(4): 850–867.
32.
JeanLRozainiARadzolM, et al. (2019) The impact of social media influencers on purchase intention and the mediation effect of customer attitude. Asian Journal of Business Research7: 19–36.
33.
KimS-ELeeKYShinSI, et al. (2017) Effects of tourism information quality in social media on destination image formation: the case of Sina Weibo. Information & Management54(6): 687–702. Smart Tourism: Traveler, Business, and Organizational Perspectives.
34.
KomppulaR (2005) Pursuing customer value in tourism–a rural tourism case-study. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism3(2): 83–104.
35.
LeickBKivedalBKEklundMA, et al. (2022) Exploring the relation- ship between Airbnb and traditional accommodation for regional variations of tourism markets. Tourism Economics28(5): 1258–1279.
36.
LeickBBeth MitchellSJan BorowieckiK, et al. (2024) Professionalisation and performance of Airbnb hosts in rural regions. International Journal of Hospitality Management118: 103680.
37.
LenzenMSunY-YFaturayF, et al. (2018) The carbon footprint of global tourism. Nature Climate Change8: 522–528.
38.
LunaLGSurovtsevaT (2020) Do More Tourists Promote Local Employment? Economics Working Papers 1746. Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
39.
MahatNZDHanafiahMH (2020) Help me TripAdvisor! Examining the relationship between TripAdvisor e-WOM attributes, trusts towards online reviews and travellers’ behavioural intentions. Journal of Information and Organizational Sciences44(1): 83–112.
40.
MansfeldYGinosarO (1994) Determinants of locals’ perceptions and attitudes towards tourism development in their locality. Geoforum25(2): 227–248.
41.
MartinRSunleyP (2006) Path dependence and regional economic evolution. Journal of Economic Geography6(4): 395–437.
42.
Martin-FuentesEMateuCFernandezC (2020) The more the merrier? Number of reviews versus score on TripAdvisor and Booking.com. International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Administration21(1): 1–14.
43.
Mohamed Reda KhomsiLF-ARabierL (2020) A prospective analysis of overtourism in Montreal. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing37(8-9): 873–886.
44.
MoleraLPilar AlbaladejoI (2007) Profiling segments of tourists in rural areas of South- Eastern Spain. Tourism Management28(3): 757–767.
45.
NocitoSSartarelliMSobbrioF (2023) A beam of light: media, tourism and economic development. Journal of Urban Economics137: 103575.
46.
Panzer-KrauseS (2019) Networking towards sustainable tourism: innovations between green growth and degrowth strategies. Regional Studies53(7): 927–938.
47.
PlzákováLSmeralE (2022) Impact of the COVID-19 crisis on European tourism. Tourism Economics28(1): 91–109.
48.
Rosselló-NadalJSantana-GallegoM (2024) Toward a smaller world. The distance puzzle and international border for tourism. Journal of Transport Geography115: 103809.
49.
SainaghiR (2020) Determinants of price and revenue for peer-to-peer hosts. The state of the art. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management33(2): 557–586.
50.
Santana-JiménezYHernándezJM (2011) Estimating the effect of overcrowding on tourist attraction: the case of Canary Islands. Tourism Management32(2): 415–425.
51.
SeraphinHDosquetF (2020) Mountain tourism and second home tourism as post COVID- 19 lockdown placebo?Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes12: 485–500.
52.
SharpleyR (2009) Tourism Development and the Environment: Beyond Sustainability?London: Earth Scan.
53.
StorperM (1997) The Regional World: Territorial Development in a Global Economy. New York: Guilford Press.
54.
VaisharAŠťastnáM (2022) Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on rural tourism in Czechia preliminary considerations. Current Issues in Tourism25(2): 187–191.
55.
VuJCTurnerL (2009) The economic structure of world tourism. Tourism Economics15(1): 5–21.
56.
WangCMengXSiriwardanaM, et al. (2022) The impact of COVID-19 on the Chinese tourism industry. Tourism Economics28(1): 131–152.
World Tourism Organization (2019) Transport-related CO2 Emissions of the Tourism Sector – Modelling Results. Madrid, Spain: World Tourism Organization.
59.
YeSXiaoHZhouL (2019) Small accommodation business growth in rural areas: effects on guest experience and financial performance. International Journal of Hospitality Management76: 29–38.
60.
YotovYV (2012) A simple solution to the distance puzzle in international trade. Economics Letters117(3): 794–798.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
