Temporal distribution as a solution for over-tourism in night tourism: The case of Suwon Hwaseong in South Korea

Abstract

As the demands of tourism become increasingly bigger, there are side effects of rapid quantitative growth, representatively, over-tourism. As efforts at minimizing over-tourism, the possibilities of temporal and seasonal distribution were explored. For the experiment, an online survey was conducted targeting the visitors who visited Suwon Hwaseong, the UNESCO World Heritage in South Korea during the nighttime. Group classification was conducted based on visitors' preferred times and seasons and estimated the marginal willingness to pay (MWTP) for night tourism activities by these classifications. To compare the MWTP of the groups and examine differences in attributes between the groups, a choice experiment (CE) was used. The results from the CE revealed that the MWTP for attributes was different in those groups. Based on MWTP of each group and their characteristics, it was confirmed that temporal and seasonal distribution can be one solution of over-tourism. These results may be useful for night tourism management and development at a UNESCOWorld Heritage site, such as providing strategies for minimizing over-tourism, which is distributed by peak and non-peak times.