IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/toueco/v29y2023i4p929-951.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does World Heritage inscription promote regional tourism? Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Cheng Zhang
  • Wei Cheng
  • Wanli Zhang

Abstract

Using the panel data from 2002 to 2018 of 287 prefecture-level cities in China and the propensity score matching–difference-in-differences method, our study sought to reexamine the effect of World Heritage inscription on regional tourism. The results show that World Heritage sites improve regional tourism significantly, further confirmed by a series of robustness tests. However, the arrival and revenue effects of World Heritage inscription on inbound tourism are not significant. Moreover, World Heritage sites generate significant tourism economic benefits for the eastern and western regions in China but not for the central region. Last, a mechanism analysis shows that tourism public services increase the arrival and revenue effects significantly. The conclusions provide important insights for governments and tourism operators regarding the sustainable development of World Heritage sites and regional tourism.

Suggested Citation

  • Cheng Zhang & Wei Cheng & Wanli Zhang, 2023. "Does World Heritage inscription promote regional tourism? Evidence from China," Tourism Economics, , vol. 29(4), pages 929-951, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:toueco:v:29:y:2023:i:4:p:929-951
    DOI: 10.1177/13548166221075453
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13548166221075453
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/13548166221075453?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Poria, Yaniv & Reichel, Arie & Cohen, Raviv, 2013. "Tourists perceptions of World Heritage Site and its designation," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 272-274.
    2. Chih-Hai Yang & Hsun-Yu Lin, 2014. "Revisiting the Relationship between World Heritage Sites and Tourism," Tourism Economics, , vol. 20(1), pages 73-86, February.
    3. Jimura, Takamitsu, 2011. "The impact of world heritage site designation on local communities – A case study of Ogimachi, Shirakawa-mura, Japan," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 288-296.
    4. Rasoolimanesh, S. Mostafa & Jaafar, Mastura & Ahmad, A. Ghafar & Barghi, Rabeeh, 2017. "Community participation in World Heritage Site conservation and tourism development," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 142-153.
    5. Gao, Yanyan & Su, Wei, 2019. "Is the World Heritage just a title for tourism?," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 1-1.
    6. Su, Yu-Wen & Lin, Hui-Lin, 2014. "Analysis of international tourist arrivals worldwide: The role of world heritage sites," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 46-58.
    7. Yang, Yang & Xue, Lan & Jones, Thomas E., 2019. "Tourism-enhancing effect of World Heritage Sites: Panacea or placebo? A meta-analysis," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 29-41.
    8. Cellini, Roberto, 2011. "Is UNESCO recognition effective in fostering tourism? A comment on Yang, Lin and Han," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 452-454.
    9. Yang, Chih-Hai & Lin, Hui-Lin, 2011. "Is UNESCO recognition effective in fostering tourism? A comment on Yang, Lin and Han: Reply," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 455-456.
    10. Trevor Mules, 2005. "Economic Impacts of National Park Tourism on Gateway Communities: The Case of Kosciuszko National Park," Tourism Economics, , vol. 11(2), pages 247-259, June.
    11. Yang, Chih-Hai & Lin, Hui-Lin & Han, Chia-Chun, 2010. "Analysis of international tourist arrivals in China: The role of World Heritage Sites," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 827-837.
    12. Haiyan Song & Gang Li & Stephen F. Witt & Baogang Fei, 2010. "Tourism Demand Modelling and Forecasting: How Should Demand Be Measured?," Tourism Economics, , vol. 16(1), pages 63-81, March.
    13. Huang, Chia-Hui & Tsaur, Jen-Ruey & Yang, Chih-Hai, 2012. "Does world heritage list really induce more tourists? Evidence from Macau," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 1450-1457.
    14. Cuccia, Tiziana & Guccio, Calogero & Rizzo, Ilde, 2016. "The effects of UNESCO World Heritage List inscription on tourism destinations performance in Italian regions," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 494-508.
    15. Chaozhi Zhang & Alan Fyall & Yanfen Zheng, 2015. "Heritage and tourism conflict within world heritage sites in China: a longitudinal study," Current Issues in Tourism, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(2), pages 110-136, February.
    16. Christine Lim, 1997. "An Econometric Classification and Review of International Tourism Demand Models," Tourism Economics, , vol. 3(1), pages 69-81, March.
    17. Elina Simone & Rosaria Rita Canale & Amedeo Maio, 2019. "Do UNESCO World Heritage Sites Influence International Tourist Arrivals? Evidence from Italian Provincial Data," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 146(1), pages 345-359, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yu-Xia Lin & Ming-Hsiang Chen & Bi-Shu Lin & Shu-Yin Tseng & Ching-Hui (Joan) Su, 2021. "Nonlinear impact of World Heritage Sites on China’s tourism expansion," Tourism Economics, , vol. 27(4), pages 795-819, June.
    2. Gao, Yanyan & Su, Wei, 2019. "Is the World Heritage just a title for tourism?," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 1-1.
    3. Yang, Yang & Xue, Lan & Jones, Thomas E., 2019. "Tourism-enhancing effect of World Heritage Sites: Panacea or placebo? A meta-analysis," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 29-41.
    4. Elina Simone & Rosaria Rita Canale & Amedeo Maio, 2019. "Do UNESCO World Heritage Sites Influence International Tourist Arrivals? Evidence from Italian Provincial Data," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 146(1), pages 345-359, November.
    5. Canale, Rosaria Rita & De Simone, Elina & Di Maio, Amedeo & Parenti, Benedetta, 2019. "UNESCO World Heritage sites and tourism attractiveness: The case of Italian provinces," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 114-120.
    6. Mohamed Abdalla Elsayed Hassan & Konstantina Zerva & Silvia Aulet, 2021. "Brand Personality Traits of World Heritage Sites: Text Mining Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-19, May.
    7. Onur Selcuk & Hatice Karakas & Beykan Cizel & Emre Ipekci Cetin, 2023. "How does tourism affect protected areas?: A multi-criteria decision making application in UNESCO natural heritage sites," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 117(2), pages 1923-1944, June.
    8. Can, Ali Selcuk & Ekinci, Yuksel & Pino, Giovanni, 2021. "Joint brand advertising for emerging heritage sites," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    9. Jones, Thomas E. & Yang, Yang & Yamamoto, Kiyotatsu, 2017. "Assessing the recreational value of world heritage site inscription: A longitudinal travel cost analysis of Mount Fuji climbers," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 67-78.
    10. Leask, Anna, 2016. "Visitor attraction management: A critical review of research 2009–2014," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 334-361.
    11. Corneliu Iațu & Bogdan-Constantin Ibănescu & Oana Mihaela Stoleriu & Alina Munteanu, 2018. "The WHS Designation—A Factor of Sustainable Tourism Growth for Romanian Rural Areas?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-12, February.
    12. Bertacchini, Enrico & Revelli, Federico & Zotti, Roberto, 2023. "Lord, how I want to be in that number! On the blessing of UNESCO World Heritage listing," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 202304, University of Turin.
    13. Martin Falk & Eva Hagsten, 2018. "The art of attracting international conferences to European cities," Tourism Economics, , vol. 24(3), pages 337-351, May.
    14. Zhixin Zeng & Xiaojun Wang, 2023. "Will World Cultural Heritage Sites Boost Economic Growth? Evidence from Chinese Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-19, May.
    15. Bertacchini, Enrico & Revelli, Federico & Zotti, Roberto, 2024. "The economic impact of UNESCO World Heritage: Evidence from Italy," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    16. Radenka Mitova & Bilyana Borisova & Boian Koulov, 2021. "Digital Marketing of Bulgarian Natural Heritage for Tourism and Recreation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-21, November.
    17. Antonella Lerario & Silvia Di Turi, 2018. "Sustainable Urban Tourism: Reflections on the Need for Building-Related Indicators," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-25, June.
    18. Xiaoping Zhuang & Yong Yao & Jun (Justin) Li, 2019. "Sociocultural Impacts of Tourism on Residents of World Cultural Heritage Sites in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-19, February.
    19. David Wuepper, 2017. "What is the value of world heritage status for a German national park? A choice experiment from Jasmund, 1 year after inscription," Tourism Economics, , vol. 23(5), pages 1114-1123, August.
    20. Tiziana Cuccia & Calogero Guccio & Ilde Rizzo, 2017. "UNESCO sites and performance trend of Italian regional tourism destinations," Tourism Economics, , vol. 23(2), pages 316-342, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:toueco:v:29:y:2023:i:4:p:929-951. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.