Tourism composite spatial indicators through variography and geographically weighted principal components analysis

Abstract The definition of an index to synthesize the tourism appeal a holiday destination is complex due effect different aspects, such as economic, socio-demographic, cultural, geographical ones regarding both demand and supply-side. In this paper, several spatially-referenced factors, related attractiveness, are analyzed through geographically weighted principal components analysis (GWPCA). However, automatic setting its kernel bandwidth, often used in practice, provides sometimes not satisfactory result, since it too small, with possible abrupt variation spatial domain, or large, disregarding dependence. For reason, new approach, based on variography minimum correlation distance characterizing covariates, proposed for GWPCA. A comparison respect outputs GWPCA, fitting, discussed. Moreover, composite indicators developed order support policy makers planning actions boost over region interest.