Description
Summary: | This study measures the impact of changing economic conditions in OECD countries on tourist arrivals to countries/destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean. A model of utility maximization across labor, consumption of goods and services at home, and consumption of tourism services across monopolistically competitive destinations abroad is presented. The model yields estimable equations arrivals as a function of OECD economic conditions and the elasticity of substitution across tourist destinations. Estimates suggest median tourism arrivals decline by at least three to five percent in response to a one percent increase in OECD unemployment, even after controlling for declines in OECD consumption and output gaps. Arrivals to individual destination are driven by differing exposure to OECD country groups sharing similar business cycle characteristics. Estimates of the elasticity of substitution suggest that tourism demand is highly price sensitive, and that a variety of costs to delivering tourism services drive market share losses in uncompetitive destinations. One recent cost change, the 2009 easing of restrictions on U.S. travel to Cuba, supported a small (countercyclical) boost to Cubas arrivals of U.S. non-family travel, as well as a pre-existing surge in family travel (of Cuban origin). Despite the US becoming Cubas second highest arrival source, Cuban policymakers have significant scope for lowering the relatively high costs of family travel from the United States.
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Item Description: | At head of title: Western Hemisphere Department. Title from PDF title page (IMF Web site, viewed June 10, 2011). "February 2011." |
Physical Description: | 1 online resource (33 pages) : color illustrations |
Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references. |
ISBN: | 1283565846 9781283565844 9781455217670 1455217670 9781455283156 1455283150 1455217689 9781455217687 1462341594 9781462341597 9786613878298 6613878294 |
Language: | English. |