Understanding the Tourists’ Spatio-Temporal Behavior Using Open GPS Trajectory Data: A Case Study of Yuanmingyuan Park (Beijing, China)

Qian Yao, Yong Shi, Hai Li, Jiahong Wen, Jianchao Xi and Qingwei Wang
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Qian Yao: Department of Tourism Management and Planning, School of Tourism Management, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
Yong Shi: Department of Economics and Management, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai 200438, China
Hai Li: Department of Economics and Management, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai 200438, China
Jiahong Wen: Department of Geography, School of Environmental and Geographical Sciences, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China
Jianchao Xi: Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Qingwei Wang: Department of Tourism Management and Planning, School of Tourism Management, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450001, China

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: The visit paths, dwell time, and taking pictures are all variables of great significance to our understanding of tourists’ spatio-temporal behavior. Does having a large number of visitors mean that tourists are interested in a tourist location? What is the relationship between the dwell time and taking pictures? Are there differences in tourist behavior in different seasons? These issues are of great significance to tourism research but they have not been rigorously analyzed yet. This paper aims to understand the relationship between tourists’ visit path, dwell time, and taking pictures, and test whether there are differences in tourist behavior in different seasons. We used open global positioning systems (GPS) trajectory data at Yuanmingyuan Park from January 2014 to August 2020. Using Python and ArcGIS tools, we found hot spots of tourist passing, hot spots of tourist gathering, high average dwell time areas, and tourist interest areas. It is further found that: (1) passenger flow strongly explains dwell time, while the correlation between passenger flow and average dwell time is weak. (2) There was a close relationship between tourists’ stay and photo-taking behavior, which provided a theoretical basis for defining tourist photo behavior as tourists’ stay behavior. (3) Seasons did not significantly affect tourist behavior in Yuanmingyuan Park. This study presents a grid-based open GPS trajectory data processing framework that clarified the potential of an open GPS trajectory in tourist behavior research. Furthermore, our study explored the relationship between essential indicators and found that there is a strong consistency in tourist behavior across seasons.

Keywords: tourist behavior; GPS; big data; spatio-temporal behavior; theme park (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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