Testing the Empirical Link between Tourism and Competitiveness: Evidence from Puerto Rico

Abstract

This study examines the empirical relationship between tourism and the competitiveness of a destination. It uses the cointegration and error correction model (ECM) in a bivariate context as a precondition to apply the Granger causality test. This procedure was carried out in the case of Puerto Rico's tourism industry during 1960–2004. The study found cointegration in the intertemporal rather than the contemporaneous effects, as well as a one-directional causality running from changes in tourism spending to changes in competitiveness. This result highlights the long-run equilibrium spending behaviour of tourists as a major concern of destination managers.