Evaluating the Travel Distances of Events Visitors and Regular Visitors Using Mobile Positioning Data: The Case of Estonia

Event tourism has become an important economic component of modern tourism, given the growing numbers of visitors and the development of local communities that it entails. This study examines whether the distances traveled by foreign visitors to events differ from those traveled by non-event (i.e., regular) visitors, and which factors influence such distances. We use passive mobile positioning data obtained from visitors to 145 events in Estonia (119,288 visits) and from a comparison group of regular visitors (199,859 visits) between 2006 and 2009. The results show that events visitors come from nearer locations than regular visitors; similarly to regular visitors, the distance decay principle applies in case of events visitors; and that events bring more visitors from more distant countries in the off-season (winter).