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on Tourism Economics |
| By: | Javier Lozano (University of the Balearic Islands); Javier Rey-Maquieira (University of the Balearic Islands, IMEDEA-UIB of CSIC) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we try to build a bridge between the traditional analysis of the evolution of tourism destinations and economic growth theory. With such an aim we develop an environmental growth model for an economy specialized in tourism and we derive the pattern of tourism development with numerical calculations. The results of our simulations do not contradict the general pattern of evolution implied in the Tourism Area Life Cycle Hypothesis, being environmental deterioration and public goods congestion the main reasons for the stagnation of the tourism destination. We also show the importance of the quality of private tourism services in the evolution of the tourism destination. |
| Keywords: | Tourism, Economic growth, Tourism lifcycle |
| JEL: | L83 Q26 O41 |
| Date: | 2005–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2005.146&r=tur |
| By: | Marie-Antoinette Maupertuis (IDIM and Università di Corsica); Sauveur Giannoni (IDIM and Università di Corsica) |
| Abstract: | As tourism is becoming one of the most important sectors of the world economy, the number of small islands trying to develop a competitive tourist activity is increasing and this strategy appears as growth enhancing. In most cases, it is built on the environmental quality of the destination but also on lodging infrastructures and related services that tourists deserve in order to enjoy a good experience. This paper explores the inter-temporal trade-off between tourist investments and environmental quality preservation needed to ensure population revenues in the long run. It highlights possible cyclical evolution of environmental quality, tourist infrastructures, investments and tourist frequentation. |
| Keywords: | Tourism, Environment, Lifecycle, Islands |
| JEL: | O1 L83 Q26 |
| Date: | 2005–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2005.145&r=tur |
| By: | Mondher Sahli (Victoria University of Wellington); Jean-Jacques Nowak (Université Lille I –MEDEE) |
| Abstract: | International tourism is increasingly viewed as one of the best opportunities for a sustainable economic and social development of developing countries. There is also an increasing concern from public policy makers as to whether mass tourism coastal resorts can play a catalytic role in the overall economic development and improve the real income of their community. In this paper, we present a general equilibrium model which explicitly takes into consideration specific features of some developing countries (e.g. coastal tourism, dual labour market, unemployment, migrations, competition between agriculture and tourism for land) to analyse the ways by which an inbound tourism boom affects this kind of country, in particular its real income. We define the conditions under which an inbound tourism boom makes developing countries residents worse off. |
| Keywords: | Economic impacts, General equilibrium model, Inbound tourism, Migration, Unemployment, Developing countries |
| JEL: | F11 Q17 L83 |
| Date: | 2005–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2005.148&r=tur |
| By: | Nishaal Gooroochurn (Nottingham University Business School); Adam Blake (Nottingham University Business School) |
| Abstract: | Tourism plays a major part in the development strategies of both developing and developed countries because of the alleged potential of generating foreign exchange, economic growth and welfare enhancement (Sinclair and Stabler, 1997; Sinclair, 1988). Consequently, in several countries a considerable amount of resources is allocated to further promote the tourism sector in a hope of reaping more economic benefits. However, it is still debatable whether tourism is beneficial for the tourist-receiving country or not. While empirical studies (Adams and Parmenter, 1994; Zhou et al., 1996, Baaijens et al., 1998; Blake, 2000; Blake et. al., 2003; Dwyer et al., 2003), argue that tourism expansion is beneficial to the economy, theoretical studies (Copeland, 1991; Chen and Devereux, 1999; Hazari and Nowak, 2003; Hazari et al., 2003; Nowak et al., 2003) posit that tourism expansion can be immiserizing. This paper critically reviews the theoretical and empirical literature to identify the sources via which tourism expansion can benefit or harm the economy. The issues are then empirically investigated using a CGE model for Mauritius to identify the conditions under which tourism expansion can be immiserizing. |
| Keywords: | Tourism, Immiserization, Welfare, Economic growth |
| JEL: | L83 Q26 |
| Date: | 2005–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2005.143&r=tur |
| By: | Silvia Marzetti (University of Bologna); R. Mosetti (Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e Geofisica Sperimentale, OGS) |
| Abstract: | Congestion is an important management problem at mass tourist sites. This essay focuses on the social carrying capacity (SCC) of a tourist site as indicator of residents’ and visitors’ perception of crowding, intended as the maximum number of visitors (MNV) tolerated. In case of conflict between the residents’ MNV tolerated and the visitors’ MNV tolerated, the policy-maker has to mediate. We consider the case in which the residents’ SCC is lower than the visitors’ SCC, and the site SCC is the result of a compromise between these two aspects of the SCC. This can be measured by making reference to two criteria of choice: the utility maximisation criterion and the voting rule. The use of one method rather than the other depends on the data available about the individual preferences on crowding. Assuming that individual preferences are known, a maximisation model for the computation of the site SCC is conceived. It represents the case in which the residents’ SCC is the limiting factor. The site SCC is intended as the number of visitors which maximises the social welfare function. Because a local policy-maker maximises the welfare of residents, in this model visitors are represented by those residents whose welfare wholly depends on the tourism sector, while the social costs due to crowding are borne by those residents who are partially or totally independent from tourism. Nevertheless, in practice, the individual preferences about crowding are not always known. In this case, the MNV tolerated can be computed by applying the majority voting rule. It is shown that, under certain conditions, the optimum number of visitors, obtained through a maximisation model, is equal to the MNV tolerated by the majority of voters. |
| Keywords: | Sustainable tourism development, Tourism carrying capacity, Social carrying capacity, Maximisation criterion, Majority voting rule, Overcrowding, Mass tourist site |
| JEL: | L83 Q01 Q26 Q58 |
| Date: | 2005–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2005.144&r=tur |
| By: | Davies, J. Clarence (Resources For the Future); Cahill, Sarah |
| Abstract: | This report analyzes the environmental impacts of the tourism industry, which is the third largest retail industry in the United States, behind only automotive dealers and food stores. In 1998, travel and tourism contributed $91 billion to the U.S. economy, supporting 16.2 million jobs directly and indirectly. While extensive research has documented the significant economic impact of such service industries as tourism, little has been written about their effect on environmental quality. This study uses a framework developed from the industrial ecology literature to assess the impacts of the tourism industry on the environment. Three categories of impact are discussed- direct impacts, including impacts from the travel to a destination, the tourist activities in and of themselves at that destination, such as hiking or boating, and from the creation, operation, and maintenance of facilities that cater to the tourist; "upstream" impacts, resulting from travel service providers’ ability to influence suppliers; and "downstream" impacts, where service providers can influence the behavior or consumption patterns of customers. We have identified impacts from tourist-related transportation, including aircraft, automobiles, and recreational land and marine vehicles; tourist-related development, tourist activities, and direct impacts of the lodging and cruise industries. Although the direct impacts of the lodging and cruise industries and impacts of tourist-related transportation were not very significant, we found on the other hand that tourist activities can have significant impacts, depending on the type and location of activity. Tourist-related development can also have significant cumulative impacts on water quality and the aesthetics of host communities. Opportunity for upstream and downstream leverage within the tourism industry is considerable. Hotels can exert upstream influence on their suppliers to provide environmentally sound products, such as recyclable toiletries. Similarly, the cruise industry can use its leverage to convince suppliers to improve the environmental quality of shipboard products. Opportunity for downstream influence exists as well. Travel agents can influence where and how a tourist travels, and tour operators can educate tourists about ways to minimize their impact on the environment. The fragmented nature of the tourism industry is not conducive to regulation that encompasses all aspects of the industry. Therefore, educational efforts aimed at supporting existing regulations and encouraging environmentally responsible behavior where no regulations exist seem most promising as a management scheme. These educational efforts should be framed in accordance with the targeted audience (i.e., tourists and industry sectors). Tourists may be more receptive to educational initiatives that focus on the environmental benefits of altering their behavior, while industry sectors are more likely to be responsive to educational efforts that emphasize cost savings and an improved public image. |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-00-14&r=tur |
| By: | Stavins, Robert; Wagner, Alexander; Snyder, Lori |
| Abstract: | We develop and apply a new method for estimating the economic benefits of an environmental amenity. The method fits within the household production framework (Becker 1965), and is based upon the notion of estimating the derived demand for a privately traded option to utilize a freely-available public good. In particular, the demand for state fishing licenses is used to infer the benefits of recreational fishing. Using panel data on state fishing license sales and prices for the continental United States over a fifteen-year period, combined with data on substitute prices and demographic variables, a license demand function is estimated with instrumental variable procedures to allow for the potential endogeneity of administered prices. The econometric results lead to estimates of the benefits of a fishing license, and subsequently to the expected benefits of a recreational fishing day. In contrast with previous studies, which have utilized travel cost or hypothetical market methods, our approach provides estimates that are directly comparable across geographic areas. Further, our results suggest that the benefits of recreational fishing days are generally less than previously estimated. |
| JEL: | Q26 Q21 Q22 H41 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-03-49&r=tur |
| By: | Fischer, Carolyn (Resources For the Future); Sterner, Thomas; Muchapondwa, Edwin |
| Abstract: | This paper formulates a bioeconomic model to analyze community incentives for wildlife management under benefit-sharing programs like the Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) in Zimbabwe. Two agents influence the wildlife stock- a parks agency determines hunting quotas, and a local community chooses to either aid or discourage outside poachers. Wildlife generates revenues from hunting licenses and tourism; it also intrudes on local agriculture. We consider two benefit-sharing regimes- shares of wildlife tourism rents and shares of hunting licenses. Resource sharing does not necessarily improve community welfare or incentives for wildlife conservation. Results depend on the exact design of the benefit shares, the size of the benefits compared with agricultural losses, and the way in which the parks agency sets hunting licenses. |
| Keywords: | bioeconomic, CAMPFIRE, community, poaching, wildlife, benefit sharing |
| JEL: | H41 Q20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-05-06&r=tur |
| By: | Antonio G. CALAFATI (Universita' Politecnica delle Marche, Dipartimento di Economia) |
| Abstract: | The paper argues that the way in which social scientists and policy-makers have conceptualised the Italian territory has significantly changed since the 1950s as a consequence of methodological shifts and attempts to capture the changing territorial organisation of the economy brought about by the structural transformation of the production and consumption process. In retrospect, one can in fact discern a conceptual trajectory from the standard 'Northern Italy'/'Southern Italy' partition, which prevailed until the 1970s, to an interpretation of the Italian territory as a pattern of local systems which slowly emerged in the subsequent decades. The paper suggests that the concept of 'local system', if correctly interpreted, may finally lead to rediscover cities as the fundamental elements of the territorial organisation of the economic process in Italy. However difficult economists may find to insert 'the city' in the categorical and theoretical framework of economics, it seems necessary to assign to the features of urban organisation of the Italian society the economic importance they indeed have. By moving from a modern interpretation of the concept of city - for instance by giving adequate consideration to the fact that in Western economies practically all cities are 'dispersed cities' and functional rather than administrative borders are relevant - one can reach the conclusion that most local systems are in fact cities. This way of looking at the Italian territory has important consequences. For instance, it reinstates urban external economies and dis-economies in the position they deserve in determining the development trajectory of the Italian economy. This perspective, moreover, re-assigns to the main Italian urban systems the economic role that they have indeed played in recent decades with regard to the innovation and accumulation processes, and highlights the key position that large cities have in reacting to the external shocks that accompany the changing international division of labour. Moreover, if the economic importance of cities is not acknowledged, it is questionable whether effective regional and national development policies can be devised. The critical-historical analysis of the conceptualisation of the Italian territory since the 1950s conducted in this paper, highlighting the conceptual barriers which have impeded appreciation of the role of cities, may prove functional to a paradigmatic shift which puts cities at the centre of the stage - a shift which is also in line with the new orientation toward cities one finds in the EU territorial policies. |
| JEL: | O12 O18 R10 R11 |
| Date: | 2005–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anc:wpaper:241&r=tur |