Impact of high-speed rail on spatio-temporal evolution of tourism interaction and structure of cities

Abstract This study investigates the impact of high-speed rail (HSR) on the evolution of tourism spatial interaction (TSI) and tourism spatial structure (TSS) of cities. First, a model is proposed to describe the TSI between cities and analyze its evolutionary characteristics. Then, the degree and betweenness centrality of cities in the tourism network structure are developed to reveal the evolution of TSS. Furthermore, the self-organizing mapping (SOM) algorithm is utilized to clarify the evolution of cities’ role in the tourism structure. Using China as a case study, the findings indicate an overall increase in TSI from 2007 to 2019, driven by HSR expansion. Additionally, HSR can exert a more significant impact on the tourism of the cities located in the central, eastern, and northern regions of China than in other regions. The functional position of cities in TSS is also identified, which can provide decision support for the planning of cities’ tourism development.