The Impact of Tourism Quality on Economic Development and Environment: Evidence from Mediterranean Countries

Abstract

This paper is the first of its kind to measure the income level of a country’s tourist arrival and empirically examine its impact on economic growth and environmental pollution in a sample of eight Mediterranean countries. The paper undertakes annual data from 1995 to 2014 and employs quantile regression models, autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) estimations, and a heterogeneity causality test. The empirical results show that the income level of a country’s tourist arrival, across all quantiles, plays an important role in promoting economic development. However, the role of the income level of a country’s tourist arrival on environmental pollution varies with the changes in quantiles. More specifically, income level of a country’s tourist arrival has a positive impact on environmental pollution for the lower quantiles, while it has a negative impact for higher quantiles. The findings from panel ARDL models confirm that the income level of a country’s tourist arrival has positive and negative impacts on economic growth and emissions, respectively. Given these results, these findings provide information to take the necessary actions to ensure sustainable tourism development, i.e., the expansion of the tourism industry without harming the environment in the Mediterranean countries.

The Relationship between Development of Tourism, Quality of Life and Sustainable Performance in EU Countries

“…Thus, Ren et al [26] conducted a study in 8 Mediterranean countries on the income level of a country's tourist arrival and economic and environmental effects, and the results showed the existence of positive and negative impacts on economic growth and emissions. Or, we can mention the research conducted by De Vita and Kyaw [56] which analyzed the impact of the level of economic development on the tourism-growth relationship, based on a panel of 129 countries over 20 years.…”

“…From the analysis of research published so far, a clear conclusion cannot be distinguished, given that results are sometimes contradictory. Some papers present results that support the positive influence of tourism on improving the quality of life and sustainable performance [17][18][19][20], other authors identify the development of tourism as a factor with negative effects on the overall index of quality of life and the growth of sustainable performance [21][22][23][24], while a third group of studies shows mixed results [25][26][27].…”

Semantic Icons: A Sentiment Analysis as a Contribution to Sustainable Tourism

“…However, it must also contribute to the intelligent integration of the actors in the distribution chain, which involves the generation and exchange of information and knowledge [26,27,33,76]. In addition, it should help improve the tourist experience as an essential activity [77] by also encouraging the protection of resources, the rescue of culture, and sources of employment [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17].…”

“…It can also favor the progress of countries as it also provides positive impacts to their economy. However, it can also present negative repercussions regarding the protection of the environment due to the development and abrasion of their resources [2,3]. This issue, seen from the perspective of sustainable tourism, must be managed together with the generation of employment and wealth; the conservation of culture and patrimony, social inclusion, and respect to diversity; the efficiency of resources; and the fight against poverty [4].…”

An overview of the tourism economic effect in the European Union Member states

“…In this regard, the tourism industry has become one of the essential tools for achieving sustainable economic growth in most countries. The tourism sector is not only is a significant contributor to the increase of GDP, but it also plays a vital role in terms of providing employment opportunities, reducing poverty, increasing of the income distribution, generating additional demand for goods and services, providing additional tax revenues and foreign exchange reserves for the governments (Taizeng et al, 2019).…”