High Speed Rail and the tourism market: Evidence from the Madrid case study

Marketing decisions and strategic planning of tourism provisions require improving the knowledge of factors affecting tourism demand, as well as making better forecasts of tourism flows in the short and long-term. In this respect, approaching how holidaymakers select their holiday destinations and investigating which factors determine their choices emerge as a key challenge. The aim of this paper is to analyze the role of High Speed Rail systems on destination choice, specifically on urban tourism destinations. To that end, a quantitative analysis is carried out through logistic regression models aimed at analyzing how different explanatory variables affect tourists' choice of a destination. A Revealed Preference survey was conducted in June 2013 in Madrid, where tourists were interviewed close to the most attractive tourist sites. Preliminary results show that the Spanish High Speed Rail system seems to have a significant effect on the tourists' choice to visit other cities close to Madrid, but the choice of Madrid as a tourist destination is not influenced by the presence of High Speed Rail. Indeed other factors play a significant role. •Destinations are conceived as complex products chosen by tourists.•The accessibility provided by transport infrastructure is an important factor determining tourists' destination choice.•A model shows the influence of these factors on tourists' destination choice.•The role of High Speed Rail on tourist's destination choice is quantified.•High Speed Rail connecting urban centers with neighboring cities impacts the choice of these destinations for tourism purposes.