The impact of distance on international tourism demand

Abstract

This study examines the impact of distance on outbound travel demand by comparing departures from 92 source markets to over 4700 discrete destination pairs. Travel to land neighbours dominates outbound travel, accounting for 53% of all departures. Share of departures for travel >5000 km was typically 3% or lower. The study also identified different travel flows depending on the origin region, with share of outbound travel a function of the number and size of receiving countries, as well as the presence of an Effective Tourism Exclusion Zone, a zone where little or no tourism activity occurs.