Does Car Ownership Motivate Tourism Participation? Evidence from a Developing Country

ABSTRACT Car ownership and tourism participation rates are relatively lower in developing countries than in developed countries, challenging economic development equality. This research note contributes to the literature by investigating whether car ownership motivates the tourism participation of people residing in developing countries, using China as a study example. We employ a rigorous recursive bivariate probit model to estimate the 2018 China Family Panel Studies data and account for rural-urban differentials. Findings show that car ownership increases the probabilities of tourism participation among rural and urban households by 26% and 35%, respectively. We also find that car owners in rural and urban households averagely spend 4,457 and 11,065 Yuan/capita more on tourism than their counterparts without owning cars. Therefore, at least in China, policy instruments that increase car ownership would promote residents’ tourism participation, which induces a high quality of life.