U.S. tourism in Mexico: An empirical analysis

This study estimated demand functions for tourism by U.S. residents in Mexico border areas, the Mexican interior, and overseas. There was no evidence that U.S. tourists substitute Mexico for more distant destinations as transportation costs rise. Border tourism is income elastic when the share of U.S. income of the border states is held fixed. Tourism in the Mexican interior is also income elastic. Tourism along the border is price elastic, while tourism in the interior is elastic with respect to U.S. and overseas prices but inelastic with respect to Mexican prices. The rise in the share of the Mexican interior in U.S. overseas tourism is not related to price factors. Recent devaluations of the Mexican peso are unlikely to provide benefits to the Mexican tourism industry.     

Tourism, economic welfare and efficient pricing

A theoretical framework based on economics is provided for assessing tourism's costs and benefits. Suppose that resources utilized by tourists are owned by residents and, as marketed goods or services, are priced efficiently. Then increased tourism promotes net average (i.e., Pareto) economic gains for residents even in the face of such things as increased environmental costs and increased charges. Therefore, under these circumstances, there is no case for entry taxes or qualitative restrictions on tourism to deal with environmental issues. However, such taxes can be justified on rent-seeking grounds that are discussed in this paper.     

Evaluation of demand: US tourists to Aruba

This study examines international tourism demand to Aruba from the United States. This is the first empirical attempt to estimate the income, price, and exchange rate elasticities on Aruban tourism. An accurate estimate, understanding, and forecasting of the demand based on appropriate analytical methods is important for both the government and private investors. Tourism demand estimates from either the linear and the double log linear models reveal that the effects of income dominate those of prices and exchange rates. In general, US tourists appeared to be highly sensitive to the income variable and inelastic with respect to price. The exchange rate variable was not significant.     

Devaluation and US tourism expenditure in Mexico

Studies that investigate the factors affecting US tourism expenditures in Mexico generally regard relative prices in these countries as sensitive determinants. The findings of inelasticity of expenditures of American tourists with respect to prices in the Mexican interior and border in several studies published in the 1980s are debatable. This study evaluates the impact of recent peso devaluations by adjusting 1970–1982 US tourism expenditures by an index that combines the Consumer Price Index in dollars, the CPI in pesos, and the exchange rate. The results here clearly indicate that US expenditures in the interior and on the border are price sensitive and have a strong positive trend reaction to devaluation in both nominal and real terms. Border expenditures clearly exceed interior expenditures and are more sensitive to exchange rate changes than expenditures in interior Mexico.     

The economic impact of tourism at the port of Miami

The total disaggregated economic impact that cruise industry tourism has on Dade County is examined in economic terms using a regional input-output model developmen by the Regional Science Research Institute. The analysis indicates that cruise industry tourism at the Port of Miami had a total economic impact on Dade County of $546 million in 1982. The total direct, indirect and induced number of jobs generated by the cruise industry and cruise passengers is 21,627. Wages totalling $271 million were paid in 1982 in Dade County as a result of the total impact of the cruise industry. Finally, the model revealed that cruise industry tourism contributed $264 million to the county's Gross Regional Product in 1982     

Resort cycle revisited: The retirement connection

This article reappraises the Butler model of resort evolution with the addition of a focus on retirement-tourism relationships. The model predicts retirement will emerge as a major factor in resorts as tourism goes into decline, but an examination of trends in Parksville and Qualicum Beach, British Columbia, Canada, revealed retirement has been a feature of those resorts since their early days and has grown alongside tourism. However, an analysis of content of local newspapers revealed that the two communities came to appreciate the retirement sector with their first major downturn in tourism, which in itself partially supports Butler's thesis.     

Location patterns of urban restaurants

Locational patterns of five categories of restaurants in eight Canadian cities in Ontario are examined to identify spatial regularities. Spatial regularities sought include tendencies to agglomerate or deglomerate with respect to restaurants of the same category as well as of different categories; spatial correlations with other land uses; apparent effects of varying traffic levels (AADTs) on restaurant location; and variations in restaurant patterns in cities of different population sizes. Specific hypotheses relating to these expected spatial regularities were formulated, the majority of which were confirmed. The paper concludes with some observations on the types of locations that appear to support successful restaurants in urban areas.     

Sustainable tourism and the question of the commons

Sustainable development calls for wise management of natural, built, and sociocultural resources in destination areas. Resources created mainly for tourism are used in time by the local population as well. Many others are shared in common with local people in everyday life. More often than not, resources are overused and degraded, as is the unfortunate fate of most ‘common pool resources’. When this happens, sustainable development is severely threatened: economic wellbeing declines, environmental conditions worsen, social injustice grows, and tourist satisfaction drops. This paper analyzes the central role that common pool resources play in sustainable tourism development, outlines policy design principles for their management, and offers future research directions.     

Partnership and regional tourism in Brazil

Partnerships in planning for regional development can bring together stakeholders representing interests at national, regional, and local geographical scales. This paper examines a regional tourism development partnership in Northeast Brazil. It explores the effects of socioeconomic and political contexts on this collaborative arrangement, the processes of joint working, and how participation was extended to parties not attending the regular meetings. The partnership focused on coordination among government organizations at different spatial scales and with various functions, with participants largely confined to the public sector. Using this assessment, an analytical framework is presented to assist other researchers interested in this theme.