Permalink : http://hdl.handle.net/2115/47733

KEYWORDS : Network Analysis;Internal Tourism;Local Economy;Wide-Range Co-Operation

The purpose of this study is to provide relevant information to managers and local government officers in designing promotional strategy for tourism by analyzing the traffic lines of the tourists visiting Kamikawa Central district. There is no data for analyzing traffic lines of tourist and it is unlikely that the Japanese government will develop such a database in the near future, owing to the high cost. However, analysis of tourist traffic lines is essential to developing the tourism sector. Luckily, we have been given the opportunity to gather data regarding the traffic lines of tourists in Kamikawa Central district. We obtained the data by tracing stamps on an application form, used by participants in the Kamui Mintara Stamp Rally. We also collected personal data, including gender, age, residence, accommodation type and length of stay, through the questionnaire, which the participants had to answer to be eligible for free gifts offered by the commission of the Kamui Mintara Stamp Rally. Using these data, we can analyze the traffic lines of tourist in Kamikawa Central district and the length of tourist stay. Since the number of samples from the stamp rally is sufficient size, the state of tourism in Kamikawa Central district reflected the result of the Kamui Mintara Stamp Rally. First, we investigated the correlation between seven well-known tourist spots between 2009 and 2010 using the questionnaire. The spots are Asahiyama Zoo; Biei; Furano; Mt. Asahidake; Souunkyou; Tenninkyou; and Shirogane. Second, we use the data from the answers to question 8 in the questionnaire. With these, we can make the network graphs of the traffic lines of tourists going around Hokkaido. Third, we investigate the characteristics of the network of tourists' traffic lines in Kamikawa Central district using network analysis by year and by residence. As a result, we obtained eleven findings in this study. In particular, we summarize three main findings below, --1. Souunkyo is isolated from the other six well-known spots because of geographical position and we found that the correlation coefficient between Asahiyama Zoo and Biei decreased between 2009 and 2010. --2. There are seven well-known spots that are important for tourism in Kamikawa Central district. Additionally, we show that Sapporo; Asahikawa; Abashiri; Shiretoko; Obihiro; Tomamu; Akanko; Teshikaga and Kushiro were closely linked with Kamikawa Central district and are also important for tourism in Kamikawa Central district using visualization of the networks. --3. The average degree of node and the network density of the networks increased incrementally and both the clustering coefficient and the average path length of the networks are large compared to that of the random graph. The high average degree of nodes and density are better than a low average degree of nodes and density in terms of total economic activity and the large clustering coefficient means that 6 spots are closely related to each other. The large average path length means that Kamikawa Central district is divided into two areas in terms of tourism because traffic lines between two areas were often severed. We conclude that visualization and network analysis are both necessary to understand the traffic lines of the tourists.