Analysis of Inter-Destination Cycle Tourist Movement Using Volunteered Geographic Information in Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan

In recent years, Japan has developed long-distance cycle routes as part of tourism promotion policy. Cycling tourists often take these routes for inter-destination movement. However, it is difficult to gather data concerning such types of movement with existing investigation methods such as questionnaires. This study examines the effectiveness of volunteered geographic information (VGI) for analyzing inter-destination movement of cycle tourists and regional factors affecting the movement. Hokkaido was selected as a suitable targeted area. As the result, comparing the behavioral indicators derived from VGI and existing questionnaire survey, we could show that VGI were effective in capturing the actual condition of cycle tourist movement. In addition, analyzing the regional factors affecting cycle tourist movement based on Spatial Autoregression Model allowed us to detect important regional factors, including coastline, trail station and accommodation.