Inter-Industry Effects of Tourism Growth: Implications for Destination Managers

Abstract

The study of the economic contribution of tourism has recently undergone a ‘paradigm shift’ as a result of the use of Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) models in place of input–output models. In a CGE model which incorporates a realistic set of economy-wide constraints, the effects of tourism growth on destination income and employment cannot be anticipated a priori. The development and application of this superior technique have major implications for the way that tourism economists must now think about the economic impacts of tourism and for the policy advice they give to decision makers in both the public and private sectors. This paper explores three areas in which CGE modelling has relevance for the destination management organization: tourism planning, cooperative destination marketing, and assessment of destination competitiveness.