Using high-resolution GPS data to create a tourism Intensity-Density Index

Figures & data

Table 1. Summary of common indicators for evaluating tourist activity.

		Intensity indicators	Density indicators
Economic impact		Local population^b (P)	Area^c (A)
	Demand no. of Visitors^a (V)	$\text{TIR or TPR}=\frac{\mathrm{V}}{\mathrm{P}}$	$\mathrm{TDR}=\frac{\mathrm{V}}{\mathrm{A}}$
	Supply no. of Beds (N)	$\mathrm{TF}=\frac{\mathrm{N}}{\mathrm{P}}$	$\mathrm{TL}=\frac{\mathrm{N}}{\mathrm{A}}$

^aVisitors or Tourist Arrivals or Tourist Overnight or Tourist Overnight * Av. Length of Stay. ^bInhabitants or Inhabitants*100 or Inhabitants*1000. ^ckm² or Relevant km².

Table 2. Participants’ statistics.

		Participants after ‘data cleaning’ n = 2,689
Duration of stay
	Short stay (less than 4 days)	14.35% (386)
	Long stay (4 days or more)	85.65% (2,303)
Season
	Winter (December–February)	25.66% (690)
	Spring (March–May)	26.37% (709)
	Summer (June–August)	26.29% (707)
	Fall (September–November)	21.68% (583)
Gender^a
	Men	79.47% (2,137)
	Women	20.53% (552)
Age group
	<20	1.26% (34)
	20–29	22.95% (617)
	30–39	27.37% (736)
	40–59	36.63% (985)
	60+	11.79% (317)
First visit/Repeat visit
	First visit	41.84% (1,125)
	Repeat visit	58.13% (1,563)
Religion^b
	Christian	32.35% (870)
	Jewish (non-observant)	23.8% (640)
	Jewish (observant)	19.38% (521)
	No religious affiliation	22.09% (594)
	Other	2.38% (64)
Purpose of visit
	Touring	42.88% (1,153)
	Visiting family/friends	36.0% (968)
	Business	17.92% (482)
	Religious	2.64% (71)
	Other	0.56% (15)

^aIndividual tourists who came with a spouse, family, or friends usually received one study phone, which can explain the gender bias in the sample. ^bDue to the geopolitical situation in Israel, there are almost no Muslim tourists. According to the Inbound Tourism Report of the Israeli Ministry of Tourism, 2.4% of tourists entering Israel in 2018 identified as Muslims.

Figure 1. Tourist activity indicators using GPS data.

Table 3. Calculation of traditional indicators for Jerusalem and Venice (municipal area and old city area; Citta’ Di Venezia, 2017; Israel Ministry of Tourism, 2016; Peeters et al., 2018).

Measure	Meaning	Units/Formula	Jerusalem		Venice
			Municipality	Old City	Municipality	Historic center
A	Area	km²	125.3	0.95	415	5.2
P	Local Population	Thousands	882.7	34.96	260	55
TA^a	Tourist Arrival	Thousands	2,301.3	2,043.3	24,000	14,880
TIR Intensity	Ratio TA and P	TA/P	2.6	58.4	92.3	270.5
	TA per 100 inhabitants per day	1100*TA/P*365	7.9	176.1	278.2	815.3
TDR Density	Ratio TA and A	TA/A	18.4	2,148.8	57.8	2,861.5
	TA per km² per day	1000*TA/A*365	50.3	5,885.7	158.4	7,839.8

^aIncluding same-day visitors.

Figure 2. Map of the Old City of Jerusalem (Source: Authors).

Figure 3. TDR_D in the Old City of Jerusalem, 2015–2017 (Source: Authors).

Figure 4. TDR_P for the Old City of Jerusalem, 2015–2017 (Source: Authors).

Figure 5. Left: TIR_D in the Old City of Jerusalem, 2015–2017; Right: TIR_P in the Old City of Jerusalem, 2015–2017 (Source: Authors).

Figure 6. Left: Duration variable on a national scale, average day activity; Right: Duration variable on a national scale, average night activity (Source: Jerusalem Transportation Master Plan, 2018).

Figure 7. The Intensity-Density Index (Source: Authors).

Figure 8. IDI for cells 267 and 356, 2015–2017 (Source: Authors).

Figure 9. Methods for measuring tourist activity (Source: Authors).

Citta’ Di Venezia. (2017). Project of territorial governance of tourism in Venice. https://www.venicegov.com/Home/ShowDocument?id=3161

 Google Scholar

Israel Ministry of Tourism. (2016). Tourism to Israel: A statistical report 2016. https://www.gov.il/he/departments/publications/reports/tourism-statistical-report

 Google Scholar

Peeters, P., Gössling, S., Klijs, J., Milano, C., Novelli, M., Dijkmans, C., Eijgelaar, E., Hartman, S., Heslinga, J., Isaac, R., Mitas, O., Moretti, S., Nawijn, J., Papp, B., & Postma, A. (2018). Research for TRAN Committee—Overtourism: Impact and possible policy responses. European Parliament, Policy Department for Structural and Cohesion Policies.

 Google Scholar

Jerusalem Transportation Master Plan. (2018). Tourists GPS based transportation survey. Unpublished Report: Jerusalem.

 Google Scholar