Determinants of international tourist choices in Italian provinces: A joint demand–supply approach with spatial effects

Abstract

Only recently is research merging demand and supply approaches in explaining tourist market equilibria. This paper innovates in three ways. One: we jointly consider demand and supply explanatory variables and spillover effects originating from contiguous areas by designing a unilateral gravity model augmented with spatial effects (spatial Durbin model). Two: we raise the economic profile by prioritizing an expenditure variable over flow variables (arrivals, overnight stays, length of stay) and taking into account travel costs (via the origin-destination distance).Three: we differentiate spatial contexts by focusing on international tourist origins and on local (NUTS3) destinations. Results confirm previous literature only in part.

European cultural heritage and tourism flows: The magnetic role of superstar World Heritage Sites

“…Huang et al (2012) came up with similar results focusing on the Chinese case study of Macao arguing that the effect of World Heritage Site labelling in attracting tourists is minor in the long run. In contrast, Di Lascio et al (2011) find that temporary art exhibitions in Italy, when continuous over time, play a positive role in attracting tourists; Massidda and Etzo (2012) show that local government support to cultural activities is a determinant of tourism growth; Pompili et al (2019) find that museums and cultural importance are among the most important variables to attract tourist flows and expenditures; and, finally, Park and Jang (2014), Patuelli et al (2013), VanBlarcom and Kayahan (2011), and Yang et al (2010) focusing on World Heritage Sites role, all find a positive effect stemming from the presence of UNESCO World Heritage Sites (WHS) on tourism attractiveness.…”

“…In fact, different measures, corresponding to different typologies of tangible cultural heritage have been included in the empirical analysis by the literature intensifying the heterogeneity across studies. Among others, Di Lascio, Giannerini, Scorcu, and Candela (2011) include in their panel‐data analysis a variable related to temporary art exhibitions; Cuccia and Cellini (2007) use museums and monuments attendance in their time‐series analysis; Yang et al (2010) add the number of cultural areas as classified according to Chinese regulation to their gravity model; Pompili, Pisati, and Lorenzini (2019) use a proxy for cultural importance together with the number of museums in their spatial Durbin model, and several studies use the UNESCO World Heritage Sites classification (Groizard & Santana‐Gallego, 2018; Huang, Tsaur, & Yang, 2012; Ribaudo & Figini, 2016). Regarding the inclusion of UNESCO World Heritage Sites as a heritage‐related variable a different interpretation of the results is needed: the focus is shifted from the pure endowment of cultural heritage to its internationally recognized outstanding value (subsequent to a spontaneous candidacy) and visibility or on the impact of the labelling procedure.…”

The Role of Foreign Tourists in Economic Growth: Evidence from Indonesia

“…In addition to the main independent variable, we consider other tourism variables such as length of stay and expenditure level of foreign tourists. The length of stay of foreign tourists is considered as one important determinant of economic growth in the destination countries (Pompili et al, 2019). More length of stay of foreign visitors would create a lot of benefits to host countries through more spending, and this could generate income for the host countries.…”

“…The benefit of being host countries would be plenty enough to achieve rapid economic development as well (Pompili et al, 2019). However, the development of the tourism industry potentially has effects on the economy such as increased consumption of goods and services as well as job vacancies.…”

Quality versus quantity: An assessment of the impact of Michelin-starred restaurants on tourism in Spain

“…Jiménez-Beltrán et al, 2016;Kivela and Crotts, 2006), only a very limited number of studies have included the total number of restaurants or, specifically, Michelin-starred restaurants as a tourism determinant when analyzing the link econometrically (Chen and Haynes, 2012;Provenzano, 2015). However, the few studies that exist differ from this study as they have interpreted the Michelin-starred restaurants variable as a proxy for recreational activities in general and not as an indication of gastronomic quality (Marrocu and Paci, 2013) or have even excluded it from their analyses as they do not consider it to be significant (Pompili et al, 2019). As a result, although Michelin-starred restaurants are internationally recognized, there is a lack of studies addressing their contribution to the tourist appeal of destinations.…”