The impact of UNESCO world heritage sites on the origin distribution of inbound tourist flows from the global perspective

Purpose World Heritage Sites (WHSs), as crucial tourist attractions, have been demonstrated to promote inbound tourism development; however, no study has analyzed its impact on the origin distribution of inbound tourist flows (ODITFs), leaving a research gap. This study aims to apply power law to assess ODITFs and explore the impact of WHSs on ODITFs. Design/methodology/approach This study applied the power law of rank-size distribution to calculate ODITFs in 167 countries/regions from 1997 to 2018 and used the panel data model to analyze the effect of WHSs on ODITFs. Findings WHSs could positively impact ODITFs to be more even. Among them, a cultural WHS shows a more pronounced effect on ODITFs, while the effect of natural WHSs is negligible. Originality/value This study advances knowledge about the impact of WHSs on inbound tourism from the standpoint of ODITFs, contributing to the inbound tourist flows theory and tourist attraction theory. In a realistic sense, WHSs, as crucial tourist attractions, could make ODITFs more even, implying that destination management organizations could gain higher growth of incremental tourists from tail markets rather than head markets when increasing tourist attractions.