Digital financial inclusion and domestic tourism demand: Through the lens of spatial spillover

Journal article

Yanzhao Li; Ju-e Guo; Wenjun Zhu

Tourism Economics · 2024-11 · Volume 30 · Issue 7 · pp. 1680-1703
DOI: 10.1177/13548166231224578
Published online: 2024-01-05 · Download citation (BibTeX)

PublisherSSRNPDF

Abstract

Domestic tourism demand has dominated the global tourism market and has been more resilient during the COVID-19 pandemic; yet, it is under-studied compared to international tourism demand. Digital financial inclusion (DFI) enables the provision of formal financial products and services to small and medium-sized tourism enterprises and tourists through cost-effective digital means, potentially boosting domestic tourism demand. Integrating micro- and macro-level data from 335 prefecture-level regions in China, we investigate the impact of DFI on domestic tourism demand using spatial panel models. Our analysis reveals significant and positive effects, both direct and spillover, of DFI on domestic tourism demand within a region and across regions. Notably, among the three dimensions of DFI, the usage depth exhibits the most substantial spillover effects. Furthermore, our findings also highlight the crucial role of DFI in internalizing domestic tourism revenues. Our study provides practical implications for sustainable domestic tourism development in the digital era. 

Keywords: Digital financial inclusion; domestic tourism demand; spatial spillover; spatial economics; sustainable tourism development 

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