nep-tur New Economics Papers
on Tourism Economics
Issue of 2012‒09‒03
five papers chosen by
Antonello Scorcu
University of Bologna

  1. Sustainable Tourism and the emergence of new Environmental Norms By Malgorzata Ogonowska; Dominique Torre
  2. Visit and Buy. An Empirical Analysis on Tourism and Exports By A.M. Pinna
  3. Taxing Hotel Room Sales by Online Travel Companies: What Should Be the Appropriate Tax Base? By James Mak
  4. Promotional Reviews: An Empirical Investigation of Online Review Manipulation By Dina Mayzlin; Yaniv Dover; Judith A. Chevalier
  5. Evolutionary success and failure of wildlife conservancy programs By Esther Blanco; Javier Lozano

  1. By: Malgorzata Ogonowska (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - CNRS : UMR7321 - Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis (UNS)); Dominique Torre (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - CNRS : UMR7321 - Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis (UNS))
    Abstract: Since 1990s environmental protection and awareness became major issues. Consumers are more and more aware of environmental issues and conscious of existing pollution caused by mass tourism. Consequently a new segment of demand desiring sustainable tourism products have appeared, enhancing service providers to offer this type of products. This paper analyzes the evolution of service provider's offer adapting to demand preferences modification. Using a theoretical framework, it explains how environmental quality standards can become general norms in tourism industry. By analyzing a case of monopoly and duopoly, it considers different possible frameworks and strategic choices that may be implemented by the incumbent. Though, it explains the role of industry in the emergence of the new environmental norms.
    Keywords: Economics of Tourism, tourism products' distribution, sustainable tourism, branding policies, environmental norms.
    Date: 2012–06–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00726127&r=tur
  2. By: A.M. Pinna
    Abstract: The impact of international tourism flows has been poorly studied within the international trade literature. In this paper I use disaggregated bilateral data on both movements of people and movements of goods in order to carry out a panel data analysis on how the two flows are linked. Rajan and Zingales (1998) methodology is applied in order to identify those products (experienced goods) which are more likely to be sampled by foreign visitors. I concentrate on 11 manufacturing industries whose products are ’local’ varieties and are likely to be part of the traveling experience. I compute an index of experienced good intensity and I use products which are not final consumption goods as a control group. The identifying strategy enables us to robustly assess the influence of total arrivals in a country on its exports. After considering 25 EU countries, it is found that tourism promotes exports and its effect is not negligible, particularly for the EU15 group, being of 3.5% for sectors at mean of the experienced good intensity distribution.
    Keywords: Trade; Tourism; Gravity
    JEL: F14 F15
    Date: 2012
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cns:cnscwp:201218&r=tur
  3. By: James Mak (UHERO, University of Hawaii at Manoa)
    Abstract: This essay examines the current dispute between state and local governments in the U.S. and online travel companies (OTCs) over the appropriate hotel occupancy tax base for online hotel bookings. It addresses the question of what should be the appropriate tax base in designing hotel occupancy tax statutes. It argues that the appropriate tax base should be the full rental prices of the hotel rooms paid by consumers inclusive of online travel company markups and service fees and not the discounted net rates paid by the OTCs to their hotel suppliers.
    Keywords: Hotel Occupancy Tax, Online Travel Companies, Merchant Model
    JEL: Q20 Q25
    Date: 2012–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hae:wpaper:2012-5r&r=tur
  4. By: Dina Mayzlin; Yaniv Dover; Judith A. Chevalier
    Abstract: Online reviews could, in principle, greatly improve the match between consumers and products. However, the authenticity of online user reviews remains a concern; firms have an incentive to manufacture positive reviews for their own products and negative reviews for their rivals. In this paper, we marry the diverse literature on economic subterfuge with the literature on organizational form. We undertake an empirical analysis of promotional reviews, examining both the extent to which fakery occurs and the market conditions that encourage or discourage promotional reviewing activity. Specifically, we examine hotel reviews, exploiting the organizational differences between two travel websites: Expedia.com, and Tripadvisor.com. While anyone can post a review on Tripadvisor, a consumer could only post a review of a hotel on Expedia if the consumer actually booked at least one night at the hotel through the website. We examine differences in the distribution of reviews for a given hotel between Tripadvisor and Expedia. We argue that the net gains from promotional reviewing are likely to be highest for independent hotels that are owned by single-unit owners and lowest for branded chain hotels that are owned by multi-unit owners. Our methodology thus isolates hotels with a disproportionate incentive to engage in promotional reviewing activity. We show that hotels with a high incentive to fake have a greater share of five star (positive) reviews on Tripadvisor relative to Expedia. Furthermore, we show that the hotel neighbors of hotels with a high incentive to fake have more one and two star (negative) reviews on Tripadvisor relative to Expedia.
    JEL: L1 L15 L83
    Date: 2012–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18340&r=tur
  5. By: Esther Blanco; Javier Lozano
    Abstract: This paper develops an evolutionary bio-economic model for hunting, farming and tourism (non-consumptive and safari hunting) to study the determinants of the prosperity of conservancy programs. The model is inspired in the Conservancy program of Namibia, despite it is of more general applicability to other contexts. We explore the relevance of the design attributes of conservancy programs in their prosperity in the long-run as well as the relevance of variables of the context of application highlighted in empirical literature. In addition, we explore the welfare implications of conservancies for local communities and its compatibility with conservation objectives. We discuss the results of the conservancy model with respect to the benchmark of open access and of compensation policies for agricultural looses out of wildlife.
    Keywords: Bioeconomic modeling, Community-based management, Wildlife
    Date: 2012–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:inn:wpaper:2012-18&r=tur

This nep-tur issue is ©2012 by Antonello Scorcu. It is provided as is without any express or implied warranty. It may be freely redistributed in whole or in part for any purpose. If distributed in part, please include this notice.
General information on the NEP project can be found at http://nep.repec.org. For comments please write to the director of NEP, Marco Novarese at <director@nep.repec.org>. Put “NEP” in the subject, otherwise your mail may be rejected.
NEP’s infrastructure is sponsored by the School of Economics and Finance of Massey University in New Zealand.