Reinterpreting activity space in tourism by mapping tourist-resident interactions in populated cities

ABSTRACT

This study draws upon the concept of ‘activity space’ rooted in human geography and applies it in a contemporary urban context – Macao. Noting the growing trend of urbanisation and the blurring boundary of tourist-resident spaces, this research systematically analyses the mapping and structure of tourist and resident activity spaces, and interprets the tourist-resident interactions through their spatial–temporal behaviours. Global Positioning System data were consolidated to present the results in a visual way. This study contributes to the pool of knowledge by reinforcing the concept of activity space in tourism research. The practical insights can benefit destination planning where tourists and residents co-share spaces in a harmonious setting.

KEYWORDS:

• Activity space
• tourist
• residents
• GPS
• spatial–temporal behaviour
• Macao

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Acknowledgements

This work was partially supported by research projects: RGC General Research Fund (15204121) and NSFC General Program (42171455). The research team would also like to thank Companhia de Telecomunicações de Macau (CTM) for providing the Wi-Fi service data for research purposes and Macao Institute for Tourism Studies for the grants of editing service.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Zhaoyu Chen

Zhaoyu Chen (Vicky) is a Lecturer at the Macao Institute for Tourism Studies, Macao, China. She received her PhD in School of Hotel & Tourism Management from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China. Dr. Chen had practical experience in both UNESCO Bangkok and UNESCO Beijing assisting with heritage-related projects. Her research interests are cultural tourism, heritage conservation and festival studies.

Jingjing Yang

Jingjing Yang is Associate Editor (China) of the journal Tourism Management. She has internationally recognised research and scholarship. This is evidenced by honours and professional distinctions, publications of books and articles in high-ranking journals, delivering international and national conference keynote speeches and seminars, and participating in advisory and review bodies. She has working experience in China’s Mainland & Macao, UK and New Zealand. She has worked not only in academics, but also in government, tourism industry, tourism planning and consultancy.

Xintao Liu

Xintao Liu, Ph.D., an Assistant Professor at the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics in the Hong Kong Polytechnic University since 2016. His research interest includes GIS, human behaviour, complexity science, and his research goal is to use state-of-the-art technologies to advance smart city for a better urban life. He received BEng in Survey from Hohai University, China in 1998, MSc in Cartography & GIS from Nanjing Normal University, China in 2003, and PhD in Geoinformatics from Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden in 2012. He has also worked as a postdoc fellow and sessional lecturer (2015) in Ryerson University, Canada until 2016.

Zijian Guo

Zijian Guo is a Ph.D. student at the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI), The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), Hong Kong. He holds a BEng in Geodesy & Geomatics Engineering, and MSc in Geomatics from Hohai University, China and PolyU, respectively. He worked as a research assistant at PolyU in 2019. His research interests revolve around human mobility patterns, spatial interaction, human activity demand, machine learning in geomatics and human geography.