Evolution of international tourist flows from 1995 to 2018: A network analysis perspective

Tourist arrivals and tourism revenues have been extensively studied to evaluate international tourist flows, whereas the structure and evolution of these flows have received less attention. Based on international tourist arrival data from 221 countries/regions during the period 1995–2018, this study applies network analysis to explore the structure and evolution of international tourist flows, and the roles and functions of countries/regions in the international tourist flow network. The results of this study reveal that the network density of international tourist flows is increasing. Countries/regions in Europe, East Asia and North America generally occupy a significantly important position within the international tourist flow network, especially Germany and China. Those geographically close countries/regions demonstrate the same or similar roles and positions in international tourism. This study has significant implications for tourist destination management and marketing.
Highlights • We illustrated the necessity of exploring the structure of international tourist flows. • We evaluated the structure and evolution of international tourist flows among 221 countries/regions from 1995–2018. • We employed Network Analysis to explore the roles and functions of countries/regions. • Germany and China acted as the dominating outbound and inbound tourism markets respectively from the perspective of structure. • Geographically close countries/regions demonstrated the same or similar roles and positions in international tourism.