Quantitative Methods In Tourism Economics

Tourism economics is partly based on established principles from the economics discipline, but it also incorporates elements from sociology, psychology, organization theory and ecology. It has over the years turned into an appealing multi-disciplinary oriented approach to the understanding of the impacts of leisure time in a modern society, including cultural heritage, sustainable quality of life, and industrial organization of the hospitality industry. The increasing dynamics in the tourist industry and its worldwide effects will continue to attract the attention of both the research and the policy sector in the years to come. Rather than speculating on non-observed facts, there is a clear need for evidence-based research in order to map out the complex dynamics of the tourist industry. The present volume comprises novel studies – mainly of a quantitative-analytical nature – on the supply, demand and contextual aspects of modern tourism. It contains a sound mix of theory, methodology, policy and case studies on various tourism issues in different parts of the world.​

This book goes beyond the methods usually covered in introductory textbooks on quantitative methods in tourism. It considers key issues in data selection, approaches to factor and cluster analysis and regression before covering advanced topics including structural equation modelling, maximum likelihood estimation, simulation and agent-based modelling. The result is a guide to quantitative methods in tourism that de-mystifies both simple and apparently complex techniques and makes them more accessible to tourism researchers.

'This is an excellent book which significantly contributes to tourism research and education. It takes a rigorous yet readable style to address twenty five of the most pertinent quantitative and qualitative techniques applied in tourism research. the book will appeal to a wider readership of social scientists as well as to scholars of tourism as each chapter provides a thorough overview and explanation of the techniques irrespective of their tourism application.' – Dimitrios Buhalis, Bournemouth University, UK This insightful book explores the most important established and emerging qualitative and quantitative research methods in tourism. the authors provide a detailed overview of the nature of the research method, its use in tourism, the advantages and limitations, and future directions for research. Each chapter is structured to provide information on: the nature of the technique and its evolution; background and types of problems that the technique is designed to handle; applications of the technique to tourism, including discussion of studies that have used the technique and their findings; advantages and limitations of the technique conceptually and for policy formulation; and further developments and applications of the technique in tourism research. Handbook of Research Methods in Tourism will appeal to social scientists, students as well as researchers in tourism who use quantitative and qualitative research techniques.

Quantitative Tourism Industry Analysis is the first book to deal with the input-output, social accounting matrix in a way which readers from a non-economics or non-mathematical background can follow, in order to understand how useful their application would be for tourism industry analysis. It acquaints readers with useful applications of economic modelling without the unnecessary burden of higher algebra, so that they will understand concepts of the economics measurement system, Tourism Satellite Accounts (TSA) methodology. Quantitative Tourism Industry Analysis offers a new set of economic tools for tourism policy analysis, ideal for those with a non-mathematical background.

Tourism studies often deal with complex mixes of external and local factors and the attitudes, perceptions and actions of tourists themselves. In seeking to understand individual elements of this mix, or the results of interactions between them, tourism authorities, managers and researchers often collect quantitative data, but until now the few existing guides to understanding quantitative data have been either very simple or very complicated. This book provides a guide to dealing with real-world data and goes beyond the methods usually covered in introductory textbooks. The first part considers key issues associated with using well known methods to produce valid and reliable models of real-world phenomena, emphasizing issues in data selection, approaches to factor and cluster analysis, and mathematical modelling using regression methods (including logistic regression) and structural equation modelling. The second part covers new approaches to modelling: maximum likelihood estimation, simulation and agent-based modelling. Each chapter includes extensive references to additional reading, and an appendix summarises the software introduced in the book. The book provides many practical examples of applications to tourism research, considers practical issues associated with application of quantitative techniques, and discusses common pitfalls and how to identify and remedy them. The result is a guide to quantitative methods in tourism that de-mystifies both simple and apparently complex techniques and makes them more accessible to tourism researchers.

Within the tourism industry there is a growing consensus on the need for research to investigate the economic, social and environmental impacts of tourism. However, existing research methods texts are based solely on either the business approach or the social science approach to tourism. They often fail to provide real world examples of how to plan, implement or analyse tourism related research. This book aims to address this divide by integrating theory with practice through the inclusion of specific tourism research case studies alongside research theory. It considers a wide range of research issues, approaches and techniques with contributions from both experienced and new researchers.

Tourism economics is a rapidly expanding field of research and interest in the subject has been growing steadily over the past decade. As a field of study it is one of the small band of areas, such as energy and transport economics, that draws on, and applies, developments in general economics. This highly accessible and comprehensive Handbook presents a cutting edge discussion of the state of tourism economics and its likely directions in future research. Leading researchers in the field explore a wide range of topics including: demand and forecasting, supply, transport, taxation and infrastructure, evaluation and application for policy-making. Each chapter includes a discussion of its relevance and importance to the tourism economics literature, an overview of its main contributions and themes, a critical evaluation of existing literature and an outline of issues for further conceptual and applied research. Larry Dwyer and Peter Forsyth have assembled a fascinating Handbook that will be an invaluable and much welcomed reference book for tourism economics scholars and researchers at all levels of academe. General economics scholars will also find much to engage them within the book.

'Advances in Tourism Economics' follows his predecessor 'Advances in Modern Tourism Research' (2007) in providing a thorough assessment of state-of-the-art economic research in this rapidly developing field. The authors start by analyzing the recent upsurge of model-based economic research in the field, which builds on powerful tools in quantitative economics, such as discrete choice models, social accounting matrices, data envelopment analyses, impact assessment models or partial computable equilibrium models including environmental externalities. The volume originates from this novel research spirit in the area and aims to offer an attractive collection of operational research tools and approaches. It forms an appealing record of modern tourism economics and positions the field within the strong tradition of quantitative economic research, with due attention for both the demand and supply side of the tourism sector, including technological and logistic advances.