Can Digital Inclusive Finance Make Tourism More Accessible to Households? Evidence From a Large-Scale Micro Database

The rapid growth and high penetration of digitalization have caused profound changes in tourism consumption. This study investigates the impact and transmission mechanism of digital inclusive finance (DIF) on tourism consumption by using large-scale household data. High-dimensional fixed effects (HDFEs), instrumental variable (IV) and IV extended mediation and moderation models are adopted to address the endogeneity, and results indicate that DIF enhances household tourism consumption by relaxing liquidity constraints and reducing precautionary savings. Digital competency positively moderates the relationship between DIF and household tourism consumption. Heterogeneous analysis shows that the positive impact of DIF on household tourism consumption is more remarkable in households with high education and residing in China's eastern and urban regions. The findings differ from the impacts of DIF on household daily consumption, which implies the distinct features of tourism consumption. This study also provides novel insights and methods to understand tourism demand in the digitalization economy.