Is tourism an engine for economic recovery? Theory and empirical evidence

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the causal relationships between tourism development and economic growth. For this purpose, the Dumitrescu and Hurlin (2012) technique was employed to analyze the casual link between tourism development and economic growth in seven European countries. The results showed that there is bidirectional causality between growth in tourism receipts and economic growth, suggesting that economic growth and tourism development are interdependent and that tourism development stimulates economic growth and vice versa in these countries. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed within the realms of growth, conservation, feedback, and neutrality hypotheses.