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on Tourism Economics |
| By: | Chia-Lin Chang (Department of Applied Economics, National Chung Hsing University); Thanchanok Khamkaew (Faculty of Economics, Maejo University); Michael McAleer (Erasmus University Rotterdam, Tinbergen Institute, The Netherlands, and Institute of Economic Research, Kyoto University); Roengchai Tansuchat (Faculty of Economics, Maejo University) |
| Abstract: | International and domestic tourism are leading economic activities in the world today. Tourism has been known to generate goods and services directly and indirectly, attract foreign currency, stimulate employment, and provide opportunities for investment. It has also been recognized as an important means for achieving economic development. Substantial research has been conducted to evaluate the role of international tourism, and its associated volatility, within and across various economies. This paper applies several recently developed models of multivariate conditional volatility to investigate the interdependence of international tourism demand, as measured by international tourist arrivals, and its associated volatility in the four leading destinations in ASEAN, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Each of these countries has attractive tourism characteristics, such as significant cultural and natural resources. Shocks to international tourism demand volatility could affect, positively or negatively, the volatility in tourism demand of neighbouring countries. The empirical results should encourage regional co-operation in tourism development among ASEAN member countries, and also mobilize international and regional organizations to provide appropriate policy actions. |
| Keywords: | Tourism demand, ASEAN, multivariate GARCH, volatility spillovers, interdependence, economic development, seasonality |
| JEL: | C22 C32 F50 O53 |
| Date: | 2010–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kyo:wpaper:719&r=tur |
| By: | Tisdell, C.A. |
| Abstract: | This essay classifies different types of wildlife tourism on the basis of whether they rely on captive or non-captive wildlife and whether they involve consumptive or non-consumptive use of wildlife. It is argued that depending upon how they are managed, all these forms of wildlife tourism can be supportive of the conservation of wildlife. Different mechanisms for sharing the benefits of wildlife tourism are considered and it is argued that from several different perspectives, there can be too much or too little sharing of the economic benefits from wildlife tourism. Diverse stakeholders with an interest in wildlife tourism are identified and different ways (direct and indirect) in which they can benefit from wildlife tourism are specified. The distribution of these benefits plays an important role in facilitating access to wildlife resources for tourism purposes and in ensuring their conservation. However, it cannot be assumed that wildlife tourism operators have a large amount of profit or economic surplus to share. Factors that influence their level of profit are identified and discussed. Ways are considered in which the benefits from wildlife tourism might be increased in Australia. These include easier and more widespread access of tour operators to Australiaâs wildlife resources held in the public domain and by some NGOs. |
| Keywords: | economic benefits from wildlife tourism, profit of wildlife tour operators, sustainable tourism, tourism economics, wildlife conservation, wildlife tourism, Environmental Economics and Policy, L83, Q26, Q57., |
| Date: | 2010–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uqseee:93404&r=tur |
| By: | Tchetchik, Anat; Fleischer, Alize; Finkelshtain, Israel |
| Abstract: | Helping to sustain a viable rural sector, rural tourism enjoys public support in many countries. We claim that due to club-good and agglomeration externalities in the rural accommodation market, public support should be integrated in a broader local development policy that regulates the number of accommodation units in a locality. To demonstrate this we extended an equilibrium model that accounts for product differentiation and oligopolistic competition to address club-good and agglomeration effects and applied it to data collected in north Israel. We show that under the prevailing regulation, the number of units is by far higher than the social optimum. |
| Keywords: | Community/Rural/Urban Development, International Development, Political Economy, |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:huaedp:93135&r=tur |
| By: | Tisdell, C.A. |
| Abstract: | This article outlines the efforts of a small NGO, the Mareeba Wetland Foundation, to conserve nature and conduct tourism at its Mareeba Tropical Savanna Wetland Reserve in northern Queensland. It provides background about the establishment of the reserve and its nature and draws on the results from a survey of visitors to this reserve. It provides a socio-economic profile of visitors, their frequency of visits to it and their knowledge of it prior to visiting. This knowledge is found, on the whole, to be poor. The way in which visitors decided to visit the reserve is also considered as are indicators of the economic surplus obtained from visits. Because for most visitors their visit was an experiential good, doubts are raised about the traditional method of estimating the visitorsâ surplus in these circumstances and also about the applicability of the travel cost method to estimating the demand for visits. A further difficulty noted (in relation to the applicability of the travel cost method) was the high frequency of multiple purpose journeys. The extent to which visitors learned about nature and nature conservation and obtained information about the Mareeba Wetland Foundation and its programmes is also evaluated. Views were solicited from respondents about the role which they believe NGOs should play in nature conservation and about public versus private provision of facilities and services in national parks. Significant implications are drawn about political failures in catering for nature conservation. Doubts are raised about the purist view that ecotourism needs to be conducted under virtually natural conditions if it is to make an optimal contribution to the conservation of biodiversity. |
| Keywords: | Conservation NGOs, consumersâ surplus, ecotourism, experiential goods, Mareeba Tropical Savanna and Wetland Reserve, Mareeba Wetlands Foundation, national parks, public economics., Environmental Economics and Policy, Public Economics, Q2, Q5, L83, H30, |
| Date: | 2010–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uqseee:93403&r=tur |
| By: | Stan du Plessis (Department of Economics, University of Stellenbosch); Cobus Venter (Bureau for Economic Research, University of Stellenbosch) |
| Abstract: | The FIFA World Cup hosted in South Africa during June/July 2010 was a much anticipated sport spectacle, but also widely expected to yield lasting and considerable economic benefits for the host country. Optimistic scenarios have encouraged these expectations, but there have also been cautionary studies based on the economic impact of earlier mega sport events. There are three dimensions to the potential contribution of a mega sport event to local economy, (i) the preparatory activity such as the construction of stadia, (ii) the event itself and the impact of large numbers of tourists and (iii) the long term impact of the tournament due to a changed perception of the host economy and the potential for trade, investment and tourism. This paper provides an early assessment of the tournament’s known impact along these dimensions and the results are sobering: the tournament made only a small contribution to the economy in the preparatory phase, though that was fortuitously countercyclical. Further the immediate impact of the event on the economy, around 0.1% of GDP, was much lower than widely expected and reported. It is the longer run implications of hosting a successful tournament that holds more promise for sizeable benefits, though the outcome remains uncertain on that dimension and contingent on other factors that might undermine the favourable impression created by the tournament. |
| Keywords: | FIFA world cup, Mega sport events, Sport and economics |
| JEL: | L83 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sza:wpaper:wpapers120&r=tur |
| By: | Shaheen, Susan; Guzman, Stacey; Zhang, Hua |
| Abstract: | Growing concerns over global motorization and climate change have led to increasing interest in sustainable transportation alternatives, such as bikesharing (the shared use of a bicycle fleet). Since 1965, bikesharing has grown across the globe on four continents including: Europe, North America, South America, and Asia (including Australia). Today, there are approximately 100 bikesharing programs operating in an estimated 125 cities around the world with over 139,300 bicycles. Bikesharing’s evolution is categorized into three generations: 1) White Bikes (or Free Bike Systems); 2) Coin-Deposit Systems; and 3) IT-Based Systems. In this paper, the authors propose a fourth-generation: “Demand-Responsive, Multi-Modal Systems.†A range of existing bikesharing business models (e.g., advertising) and lessons learned are discussed including: 1) bicycle theft and vandalism; 2) bicycle redistribution; 3) information systems (e.g., real-time information); 4) insurance and liability concerns; and 5) pre-launch considerations. While limited in number, several studies have documented bikesharing’s social and environmental benefits including reduced auto use, increased bicycle use, and a growing awareness of bikesharing as a daily mobility option. Despite bikesharing’s ongoing growth, obstacles and uncertainty remain, including: future demand; safety; sustainability of business models; limited cycling infrastructure; challenges to integrating with public transportation systems; technology costs; and user convenience (e.g., limited height adjustment on bicycles, lack of cargo space, and exposure to weather conditions). In the future, more research is needed to better understand bikesharing’s impacts, operations, and business models in light of its reported growth and benefits. |
| Keywords: | UCD-ITS-RR-10-07 |
| Date: | 2010–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsdav:1316350&r=tur |
| By: | Varun Khandelwal |
| Abstract: | The primary focus of the paper is to analyse the Indian Tiger Conservation program – Project Tiger. The circumstances that lead to and the conditions under which the program was launched are discussed. National Parks in India lead to a situation where the natives of the forest are deprived of their homes and livelihoods as an externality of conservation. These ousted populations (‘green oustees’) often turn against the National Parks for their sustenance. |
| Keywords: | Indian, Tiger, Conservation, Project, National Parks |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:2809&r=tur |