Abstract:

In this article, the similarity characteristics of tourists’ spatio-temporal behaviors were studied by crawling the GPS track data of two major platforms, Two Steps and Six Feet, using kernel density analysis, spatial gridding, and in-off-track analysis, taking Changdao Island in Shandong Province as an example. The following conclusions were obtained: 1) Within the year, under the influence of climatic factors, the seasonal intensity index is higher in island-type destinations, showing stronger seasonal similarity; 2) Within the day, the ‘double peak’ structure of the number of trajectories and the “triple peak” structure of the length of trajectories both indicate strong similarity and concentration of tourists’ travel time and trajectory length, in addition, compared with the general destinations, the end time of tourists’ trips in island-type destinations is relatively later. 3) Spatially, the inconvenience of transportation and time constraints cause a high concentration of tourists in the choice of islands. The ‘seaward’ trajectory of tourists is very prominent, and the length of stay in areas where tourists can engage in water-based activities, such as beaches and coastal plazas, increases significantly, and ‘sea’ is the most attractive element for tourists. Therefore, compared to the ‘radial’ or ‘cluster’ structure of land-based urban destinations, island-based destinations have a typical ‘axial’ and ‘circular’ structure. The island destinations have a typical ‘axis’ and ‘ring’ structure with a high concentration of trajectories. For island destinations, how to build their own ‘golden’ coastal landscape, ‘sea-friendly’ tourism products and coastal tourism service facilities with high quality is a very important issue. Similar to other types of destinations, most tourists have a high rate of on-trail travel during the tour, which means that their behavior is largely constrained and regulated by the road, so the reasonable planning and design of tourism paths are very important in guiding tourists’ spatial behavior, and the high connectivity of paths helps tourists form effective flows between different locations. 4) The central role of scenic areas is not as prominent on islands compared to other types of destinations. This poses three major challenges to the management of island-type destinations: First, the high overlap rate with local residents in the use of public transportation facilities and public leisure space during the peak tourist season, and the phenomenon of overcrowding in some road sections and leisure spaces, which not only reduces tourist satisfaction, but also often triggers conflicts between residents and tourists, forming some social problems; second, the revenue of scenic spots is not high; third, tourists stay on the island for a shorter period of time. The phenomenon of ‘prosperity but not wealth’ is more prominent. Therefore, island-type destinations should focus on differentiation and experience in the planning and design of scenic products, so that only when tourists expect a different tourism experience can they be successfully attracted to the scenic spots.

Key words: GPS track data, island-based destinations, tourists