Modeling tourist flows and economic impacts: A spatial perspective

Over the past decade, the tourism industry has contributed markedly to the global economy. In many less-developed regions, tourist-led development is considered as the 'last straw' to grasp in their attempt to create opportunities that will shrink the gap between developed and under-developed areas. Yet within the large body of tourist geography literature, very few studies have utilized 'traditional' economic geography and the regional study method to gain a deeper understanding of the industry. The analysis of tourist flows and their economic impact, as defined by rigorous economic-geography theories and model, is necessary to improve our understanding of tourism from a regional perspective. Economic-geography based analyses will help us gain valuable insights into the spatial process of tourism and tourist-led development. The research in this dissertation provides a series of innovative geographical and econometric analyses to deepen our understanding of (a) the subsequent decision choices of tourists with respect to sequential tourist destinations; (b) the spatial effects (spatial dependence and spatial heterogeneity) in regional tourism growth as an outcome of tourist flows; and c) the related economic impacts and determinants of the associated multiplier effects of the regional tourism industry.