Dynamic Competition and Cooperation of Road Infrastructure Investment of Multiple Tourism Destinations: A Case Study of Xidi and Hongcun World Cultural Heritage

Abstract

The transportation infrastructure always plays an important role in the development of the local tourism. A system dynamics method incorporated with a destination choice model is proposed in this paper to analyze the dynamic impacts of transportation infrastructure on the tourism development, where multiple tourism destinations share a common market. Tourists’ destination choice behaviors are characterized by a multinomial logit choice model based on the utility of destinations, which depends heavily on the accessibility of destinations that the local administration has strong willingness to improve. The system dynamics method is used to model dynamic interactions among destinations and to simulate the dynamic evolution of the competition on the tourism market. A case study of the World Cultural Heritage Sites, Xidi and Hongcun villages, shows the competition for road infrastructure investment can produce a win-win situation and bring the cooperation on investment due to the positive externality of transport infrastructure and two villages show a tendency to merge into one bigger destination. Finally, the tourism development strategies for two villages are discussed based on the scenario analysis.