Macro Understanding of Tourism Through Universal Forces Framework: Spatial Big Data Approach

This study calls for tourism studies that aim to provide a macro-level understanding of what makes tourists travel. The authors propose the Universal Forces Framework for explaining tourism phenomena from a macro-level and sociological perspective, bridging different domains of tourism knowledge. Four forces have been identified in the literature: push, pull, friction, and competition. In addition, we introduce the herding effect, the phenomenon of tourists attracting other tourists, as another universal force in tourism. The model was empirically tested using nationwide tourism big data of South Korea. Our approach provides a theoretical platform that cultivates the development of a coherent and macro-level understanding of tourism, along with an exemplar for the theory-driven use of tourism big data.