Tourism and migration: Identifying the channels with gravity models

Maria Santana-Gallego and Jordi Paniagua ()
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Maria Santana-Gallego: 16745Universitat de les Illes Balears, Spain

Tourism Economics, 2022, vol. 28, issue 2, 394-417

Abstract: As a result of the role played by migrants in supporting host economies, the interest in understanding the impact of migration is growing. However, the literature remains silent on the channels by which migration affects tourism. The present article aims to isolate the effect of migrant networks on tourism by exploring the role of information, travel costs, and demand for visiting friends and relatives. To this end, a theoretical framework that rests upon a structural gravity model is developed. The model allows not only a better understanding of the relationship between tourism and migration but also to overcome several empirical biases like the omission of multilateral resistance in tourism flows or controlling for endogeneity. The empirical analysis considered a sample of 34 OECD countries as destination/home and 157 origin/countries-of-birth for tourist arrivals/migration stock. A positive and robust effect of migration on inbound tourism is estimated and the three channels proposed to drive this nexus become relevant.

Keywords: gravity equation; migration; tourism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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Working Paper: Tourism and migration: Identifying the channels with gravity models (2020)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:toueco:v:28:y:2022:i:2:p:394-417

DOI: 10.1177/1354816620972597

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