Roles and Functions of Tourism Destinations in Tourism Region of South Anhui: A Tourist Flow Network Perspective

Key words: 
• tourist flow network /
• equivalence model /
• roles /
• functions /
• centrality analysis /
• Tourism Region of South Anhui

Abstract: Theoretic and practical significance has been highlighted in the research of the roles and functions of destinations, as destinations are restricted by the spatial structure based on tourist flow network from the perspective of relationship. This article conducted an empirical analysis for Tourism Region of South Anhui (TRSA) and revealed the necessity and feasibility of studying the roles and functions of destinations from tourist flow network′s perspective. The automorphic equivalence analysis and centrality analysis were used to classify 16 destinations in TRSA into six role types: tourist flow distribution center, hub of tourist flows, passageway destination, common touring destination, attached touring destination, and nearly isolated destination. Some suggestions were given on suitable infrastructure construction and destinations service designs according to their functions in network. This destination role positioning was based on tourist flow network structure in integral and macroscopic way. It provided an important reference for the balanced and harmonious development of all the destinations of TRSA. In addition, this article verified the applicability of social network analysis on tourist flow research in local scale, and expanded this method to destination role and function positioning.