Quality and endogenous tourism: An empirical approach

We propose a theoretical model and an empirical study that highlight the role of quality of tourism services and endogenous tourism in long-run economic growth. We study a theoretical growth model of international trade where tourism is the growth engine and quality of tourism services has a positive impact on long-term growth. We also provide an empirical analysis to test the relation between tourism, quality and economic growth in Spain over the period 1970–2010. Our results show that in the long run, tourist arrivals, quality of tourism accommodations, and foreign GDP have a positive effect on Spanish GDP. In the short term, changes in economic growth appear to lead to growth in tourist arrivals. Our findings support a two-way causal relationship between real GDP growth and tourism growth in Spain.