Date of Award
5-1-2026
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Economics
First Advisor
Sylwester, Kevin
Abstract
This study investigates the relationship between airport infrastructure capacity and international tourism receipts across 12 major Asian and European economies from 2000 to 2019. Using a Panel Fixed Effects framework, the analysis tests the "Supply-Led Growth" hypothesis to determine if physical infrastructure expansion independently drives tourism revenue. To address potential endogeneity and reverse causality, the study employs specification where all independent variables are lagged by one year.The empirical results yield a robust null finding: airport capacity does not exhibit a statistically significant impact on tourism receipts. Conversely, government consumption is identified as a potent driver of tourism performance, with a significant positive elasticity of approximately 1.5. These findings add nuance to traditional models that view physical infrastructure as the primary bottleneck for tourism growth. Instead, the results suggest that complementary public investments—such as destination management, public safety, and broader government services—are critical components of revenue generation. The study concludes that for both mature and emerging economies, physical capacity acts as a necessary but insufficient condition for growth, requiring parallel fiscal and institutional support to fully realize tourism demand.
Access
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