Does tourism development spur export product diversification?

Abstract

The growing interest in tourism has motivated scholars to explore the macroeconomic effects of its development. However, there remains an unexplored gap in the literature, which is the impact of tourism development on export product diversification (EPD). Using data from 150 countries and applying a system generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator, this study tests the effect of tourism development on EPD and its two dimensions, namely the extensive and intensive margin. The results are compared in groups of countries with different income levels. The findings suggest that international tourist arrivals and receipts spur EPD. We also find that the pro-diversification impact of tourism development in low-income economies is greater than in high-income economies. In addition, when the sub-dimensions of EPD are considered, we observe that the effect of tourism development on the extensive margin is greater than the intensive margin. These results have important implications for policymakers.