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on Tourism Economics |
| By: | Sean Lyons (Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI)); Karen Mayor (Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI)); Richard S. J. Tol (Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI)) |
| Abstract: | We estimate a pooled travel model for the destination choice of tourists from the Republic of Ireland in 2006. We distinguish between holidaymakers (further split into travelling with children, elderly, and other), visitors to family, visitors to friends, business travellers and other travellers. We show that the different types of tourist have very different preferences. Elderly holidaymakers and family visitors stand out most from the “average” tourist. Preferences for cultural heritage, population density, and temperature discriminate the most between tourist types. We find some evidence that destination preferences vary over the year, but limited data prevent a full investigation. All types of Irish tourists are indifferent to precipitation. Only holidaymakers respond to temperature differences. All holidaymakers dislike cold destinations, but only elderly holidaymakers dislike hot destinations as well. |
| Keywords: | International tourism, Ireland, Pooled Travel Model |
| Date: | 2008–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esr:wpaper:wp225&r=tur |
| By: | Ken, Crucita |
| Abstract: | Belize got its Independence when the region was going through an economic crisis with debt burden and traditional export prices reduction. The northern region, once the most important economically, faced major challenges which prompted the introduction of fiscal incentive programs to alleviate the growing unemployment and decreasing economic activity. As an international border, it also faced, during the eighties and nineties, the effects of the Mexican peso devaluation. However, Mexico also constituted its mayor market for the establishment of the Commercial Free Zone. The northern region economy has only partially recovered from the major structural changes that Belize has gone through in its post independence period. |
| Keywords: | Regional development; Belize |
| JEL: | R1 O5 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:7118&r=tur |
| By: | Dmitry Shapiro; Xianwen Shi |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the role of discount travel agencies such as Priceline and Hotwire in the market segmentation of the hotel and airline industries. These agencies conceal important characteristics of the offered services, such as hotel locations or flight schedules. We explicitly model this opaque feature and show that it enables service providers to price discriminate between those customers who are sensitive to service characteristics and those who are not. Service providers can profit from such discrimination despite the fact that the opaque feature virtually erases product differentiation and thus intensifies competition. The reason is that the intensified competition for less sensitive customers enables service providers to commit to a higher price for more sensitive customers, which leads to higher profits overall. This explains why airlines or hotels are willing to lose the advantage of product differentiation and offer services through discount travel agencies. |
| Keywords: | market segmentation, opaque travel agency, separation equilibrium, price discrimination |
| JEL: | D43 D82 L11 M31 |
| Date: | 2008–02–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tor:tecipa:tecipa-310&r=tur |
| By: | Pasquale Lucio Scandizzo (University of Tor Vergata, Dept. SEFEMEQ, Faculty of Economics); Marco Ventura (ISAE - Institute for Studies and Economic Analyses) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we use the Contingent Evaluation methodology to develop an economic evaluation of natural resources in a protected marine area of Sicily. Assuming a non-Normal distribution for the ML estimation, the paper shows that a variant of the stochastic utility model appears to capture well the dependence of the willingness to pay (WTP) on the socioeconomic characteristics of a sample of stakeholders of the natural resources in question. The estimates obtained are consistent and robust across different policy measures, no embedding or sequencing effects emerge and option values appear also to have been elicited in a consistent way. Once these values are added to the basic WTP, the income elasticities estimated fall in the range reported by other studies. |
| Keywords: | environment, option value, contingent valuation, legal constraints. |
| JEL: | Q22 Q28 |
| Date: | 2008–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isa:wpaper:91&r=tur |