Evolution and influential factors of inbound tourist flow network in China: a two-mode network perspective

Different from existing studies focusing on tourist flow networks at the destination level, this study adopts a two-mode network analysis to identify the network structure, market groupings, and evolution of inbound tourist flows from 13 major origin countries to 31 destination provinces (municipalities, autonomous regions) in China. Furthermore, the quadratic assignment procedure (QAP) method is applied to analyse the influential factors of the formation of market groupings in the network. The results show that: (1) The connections within the destination-destination network and the origin-origin country network show a fluctuating increase trend. (2) Eastern provincial destinations occupy important positions in the network, and central and western destinations have played increasingly important roles in recent years. (3) Japan, South Korea, and the United States are the most important origin countries, and markets in Europe and Oceania have great potential. (4) Two market groupings led by Russia and Asian countries are relatively stable, while other origin countries have no specific regional preference. (5) Geographical distance exerts the most significant impact on the formation of market groupings, followed by tourism resources, economic development, and traffic accessibility.