Effects of holiday clustering on tourism demand

We investigate how the clustering of public holidays affects domestic tourism and outbound travel by Korean nationals. When travel carries a trip-start fixed cost, contiguous non-working days spread this cost over a longer stay, so holiday structure affects both whether a trip is taken and how long it lasts. Because departures can stay unchanged while time abroad rises, we distinguish departure flows from a measure of travel exposure that behaves like a stock, based on the monthly average number of Korean nationals outside Korea. Using administrative immigration records and survey panel data with calendar-driven variation in holiday timing, we find that additional non-working days raise domestic overnight travel, with larger point estimates for longer holiday blocks. Estimates for overnight expenditure are positive but statistically insignificant, and the outbound response appears mainly in departure timing. Expanding public holidays can support domestic tourism with only modest effects on outbound travel.