Did high speed rail accelerate the development of tourism economy? – Empirical analysis from Northeast China

At present, scholars hold two opposite views on the spatial impact (i.e., positive and negative impact) of high-speed rail (HSR) on tourism economy. To better explore the spatial impact of HSR on tourism economy, this paper uses the difference-in-differences (DID) to empirically test the causal effect of HSR and tourism economy, specifically by using the panel data of cities in Northeast China from 2010 to 2018 as research sample. On the whole, empirical results show that HSR has become an important factor in promoting the development of tourism economy. The impact of HSR on tourism economy in different years indicates that with the continuous promotion of HSR, the effect of HSR-driven tourism economy has become increasingly evident. On this basis, this paper classifies cities according to different types and finds that compared with ordinary prefecture-level cities, central cities are more affected by HSR. Compared with cities with high abundance of tourism resources, cities with low abundance of tourism resources are more affected by HSR. Therefore, current article is convinced that while seizing the opportunity of HSR, cities should actively avoid the negative impact brought by the development of HSR and truly promote the balanced development of regional tourism.