The economic relevance of tourism has been proven by numerous studies using various theoretical constructs and methodological approaches. This introduction to the special issue provides an overview of the different concepts of the economic effects of tourism and distinguishes their most relevant influencing factors. Often overlooked influences are the geographical scale and the cost side of tourism. A special focus of this paper lies on a further determinant of economic impact of utmost importance: visitor spending. The role of visitors' expenditure behavior is comprehensively reviewed using an extensive literature 170Marius Mayer, Luisa Vogt base. Thus, we are able to identify the most important driving factors of visitor expenditure in tourism in a generalizable and systematic way.

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The article analyzes the operation of sunflower agri-food chains in Brazil to understand possible ways to supply innovative sunflower food protein from Brazil. The findings from a multiple-case study approach show that the dynamic of operation of Brazilian sunflower agri-food chains are based on contracts, social network and knowledge diffusion. Although necessary, this governance arrangement has not been able to guarantee a sustainable long-term operation due to market, technological and supply chain management bottlenecks. Regional characteristics influence the level of transaction costs and the role of inputs suppliers in the chains’ operation. The introduction of high value-added food protein products could raise the comparative advantage of sunflower in relation to competing crops, benefiting the chain operation. This article contributes to the understanding of the operation of agri-food chains focused on new or non-established crops, besides reinforcing the complementarity of transaction costs economics and social networks in explaining the functioning of social-economic systems.

Recreational use of Swiss forests: their importance for the regional economy Forests fulfill conservation, production and welfare functions. If forests are not considered isolatedly, but rather as part of a landscape or a region, their positive impact on regional welfare becomes apparent. The regional economic impact of the recreational use of Swiss forests is investigated in the case study regions of Sihlwald, a typical local recreation area, and Bergell, a destination for nature-based tourism. The relative importance of forests in the decision to visit the case study regions is identified by means of a conjoint analysis that assesses the forest affinity of visitors. Both the regional added value and the employment effects of the recreational use of forests are identified in an economic impact analysis. The results show that although they have a high affinity for forests, visitors to local recreation forests, such as the Sihlwald, spend little and generate rather small regional economic impacts. In contrast, the findings for nature-based tourism destinations, such as the Bergell, show a different picture: although the forest is not the most important criterion when selecting the destination, the regional economy benefits from higher consumer expenditures. The amount of visitor expenditure most notably depends on the variety and quality of tourism services in and around the forest area. Hence, to promote the regional economic importance of the recreational use of forests, tourism services in forest areas would have to be created or enhanced.