Cross‐border tourism: Case study of inbound Russian visitor arrivals to China

Cross‐border tourism between Russia and China has increased over the past two decades, but few studies examine this development. This study uses the gravity model to investigate whether the tourism‐related, political, transport infrastructure‐related, and socio‐economic factors influence Russian visitors to China. The findings show that Russian visitors across the border to visit China are attributed to the Chinese prefectural‐level cities' real gross domestic product and export volumes, as well as transport infrastructure to connect Russian visitors to Chinese destinations. A clear knowledge of these factors allow both governments to formulate policies in facilitating visitor flows and more business activities across the border.