TY - JOUR
T1 - Leisure mobility changes during the COVID-19 pandemic
T2 - An analysis of survey and mobile phone data in Sweden
AU - Östh, John
AU - Toger, Marina
AU - Türk, Umut
AU - Kourtit, Karima
AU - Nijkamp, Peter
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank the mobile phone data provider for the data. Marina Toger and John Östh acknowledge the FORMAS project "På rätt väg?" #2018-00255; and the European Union H2020 project INCULTUM with grant number 101004552. John Östh acknowledges support from the HORIZON-WIDERA-2021-ACCESS-02 project UR-DATA with grant number 101059994. Karima Kourtit and Peter Nijkamp acknowledge the grant from the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitization, CNCS - UEFISCDI, project number PN-III-P4-PCE-2021-1878: Institutions, digitalization and regional development in the European Union, within PNCDI III. They also acknowledge the grant from the Axel och Margaret Ax:son Johnsons Stiftelse, Sweden.
Funding Information:
We thank the mobile phone data provider for the data. Marina Toger and John Östh acknowledge the FORMAS project “På rätt väg?” #2018-00255; and the European Union H2020 project INCULTUM with grant number 101004552. John Östh acknowledges support from the HORIZON-WIDERA-2021-ACCESS-02 project UR-DATA with grant number 101059994. Karima Kourtit and Peter Nijkamp acknowledge the grant from the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitization, CNCS - UEFISCDI, project number PN-III-P4-PCE-2021-1878: Institutions, digitalization and regional development in the European Union, within PNCDI III. They also acknowledge the grant from the Axel och Margaret Ax:son Johnsons Stiftelse, Sweden.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors
PY - 2023/6
Y1 - 2023/6
N2 - The COVID-19 pandemic affected travelling in general, and the leisure mobility and the spatial distribution of travellers in particular. In most parts of the world, both domestic and international travel has been replaced by restrictive policies and recommendations on mobility. A modal shift from public transport towards private cars and micro-mobility was also observed. This study seeks to trace the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for leisure mobility. We use a unique Swedish database containing daily mobility patterns of pseudonymised mobile phone users, combined with a survey on vacation transport behaviour. By contrasting mobility patterns for selected holiday days during the unaffected summer of 2019 with corresponding dates in 2020 and 2021, we are able to model and detect the pandemic effects on tourism and recreational mobility. Moreover, by identifying the general mobility patterns, we analyse whether and how the transport mode has changed. Using data on the spatial distribution of recreational amenities, we identify locations that were favoured during the pandemic. In Sweden, even though the pandemic decreased in spread and severity during the summers, most travel restrictions were still enforced, international vacations uncommon, and larger vacation spots, such as amusement parks and cultural institutions, were closed down. Swedish vacation homes in remote or rural areas were quickly booked. This change in recreational behaviour, where less populated areas, open air and nature recreation were favoured over indoor or crowded urban cultural activities, was more substantial in 2021 than in 2020. This result shows how policies can effectively be developed, so that Swedes respond properly to recommendations and adjust their vacation plans.
AB - The COVID-19 pandemic affected travelling in general, and the leisure mobility and the spatial distribution of travellers in particular. In most parts of the world, both domestic and international travel has been replaced by restrictive policies and recommendations on mobility. A modal shift from public transport towards private cars and micro-mobility was also observed. This study seeks to trace the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for leisure mobility. We use a unique Swedish database containing daily mobility patterns of pseudonymised mobile phone users, combined with a survey on vacation transport behaviour. By contrasting mobility patterns for selected holiday days during the unaffected summer of 2019 with corresponding dates in 2020 and 2021, we are able to model and detect the pandemic effects on tourism and recreational mobility. Moreover, by identifying the general mobility patterns, we analyse whether and how the transport mode has changed. Using data on the spatial distribution of recreational amenities, we identify locations that were favoured during the pandemic. In Sweden, even though the pandemic decreased in spread and severity during the summers, most travel restrictions were still enforced, international vacations uncommon, and larger vacation spots, such as amusement parks and cultural institutions, were closed down. Swedish vacation homes in remote or rural areas were quickly booked. This change in recreational behaviour, where less populated areas, open air and nature recreation were favoured over indoor or crowded urban cultural activities, was more substantial in 2021 than in 2020. This result shows how policies can effectively be developed, so that Swedes respond properly to recommendations and adjust their vacation plans.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Kernel density
KW - Leisure mobility
KW - Mobile phone data
KW - Phone density
U2 - 10.1016/j.rtbm.2023.100952
DO - 10.1016/j.rtbm.2023.100952
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85148367422
SN - 2210-5395
VL - 48
JO - Research in Transportation Business and Management
JF - Research in Transportation Business and Management
M1 - 100952
ER -