Correspondence: Jianhong Zhang, Nyenrode Business Universiteit, Straatweg 25, 3621 BG Breukelen, The Netherlands. E-mail: j.zhang@Nyenrode.nl

¹earned her Ph.D. in Economics at the University of Groningen. She works at Nyenrode Business University in the Netherlands, and Yunnan University of Finance and Economics in China. Her research interests are international tourism, regional development and regional integration. She is actively involved in researching China's integration into the world economy.

Received 27 June 2008.

Abstract

This study sets up an integrative framework to analyse the determinants of a region's international inbound tourism. Meanwhile, the competition and complimentarity between regions are also examined in the same framework. This study concludes that development level, openness, tourism resources, tourism facilities and tourism organisation are all positively associated to a region's international tourism receipts. In addition, the spatial effects are highly significant in the spatial econometric models, which means that an increase in one region's international inbound tourism benefits its neighbours and the regions with which it has spatial connections in terms of tourists. Based on these findings, the study discusses the contribution of tourism toward the reduction of regional inequality in China.