TOURISM MANAGEMENT

Tourists on shared bikes: Can bike-sharing boost attraction demand?

Yang, Yang; Jiang, Lan; Zhang, Zili

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the impact of bike-sharing on tourist attraction demand in an urban destination. Using monthly data on 460 attractions in Chicago, Illinois from January 2013 to December 2019, we propose a difference-in-differences econometric model to examine the availability of nearby bike-sharing stations on attraction demand, measured by the number of TripAdvisor reviews. This model confirms the significant and positive effects of station presence and station number, each of which have a lag of about 9 months. Moreover, empirical results highlight public transport accessibility as a significant moderator of the bike-sharing effect, suggesting a complementary relationship between bike-sharing and public transport in mobilizing tourists within an urban environment. The effect of bike-sharing stations appears largest within an approximate 300-m radius of the attraction. Lastly, a discussion and implications for destination transport planning and attraction marketing are provided.

Keywords

Bike-sharing; Attraction demand; Tourist transport; Public transport

Research topic

AI and Big Data, Tourist Flows and Location, Sustainability and Resilience

Research method

Econometrics, Big Data

Geographic area

US

Additional links for this paper

ResearchGate

Publisher Website

Web of Science

HOW TO CITE

Yang, Y., Jiang, L. and Zhang, Z. (2021). Tourists on shared bikes: Can bike-sharing boost attraction demand? Tourism Management, 86, 104328

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