IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/col/000122/010630.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Tourism as a driver of economic development: The Colombian experience

Author

Listed:
  • Andreja Benkovic
  • Juan Felipe Mejía

Abstract

The current paper analyzes the importance and potentials of the tourism sector for economic development. It is divided into four major parts. After a short introduction, section two presents some theoretical insights into the topic of economic development. Commenting on the most relevant components of the catching-up theory by Abramovitz (1986) and the structural change theory by Baumol (1967) and others, it could be realized that growth and the accompanying structural changes in the distribution of employment and GDP have their sources in the sector industry. But at the moment of incorporating the demand side explanation of structural change, the service sectors offer growth potentials as well. Furthermore, the basic characteristics and importance of the tourism sector for economic development and employment are emphasized, examining the so-called social capabilities" and the innovation potential within the process of economic growth of any nation. A short survey of literature concerning the contribution of this sector to economic growth makes clear that tourism should be considered not just from the perspective of the benefits, but also from the costs associated with it. Section three provides an analysis of the economic impact of tourism in a developing country,namely Colombia, based on time-series analysis and data gathered supported on the "Tourism Satellite Account" Methodology. Some relevant indicators produced by the World Economic Forum through its "Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report", are also evaluated. Finally, some conclusions are drawn with respect to the potentialities, as well as the challenges identified for the Colombian case."

Suggested Citation

  • Andreja Benkovic & Juan Felipe Mejía, 2008. "Tourism as a driver of economic development: The Colombian experience," Documentos de Trabajo de Valor Público 10630, Universidad EAFIT.
    • Handle: RePEc:col:000122:010630
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://repository.eafit.edu.co/bitstream/10784/614/1/2008_8_Juan_Felipe_Mejia.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tiago Neves Sequeira & Carla Campos, 2007. "International Tourism and Economic Growth: A Panel Data Approach," Springer Books, in: Álvaro Matias & Peter Nijkamp & Paulo Neto (ed.), Advances in Modern Tourism Research, chapter 0, pages 153-163, Springer.
    2. Jonathan Temple & Paul A. Johnson, 1998. "Social Capability and Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(3), pages 965-990.
    3. Barry P. Bosworth & Jack E. Triplett, 2003. "Productivity measurement issues in services industries: \\"Baumol's disease\\" has been cured," Economic Policy Review, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, issue Sep, pages 23-33.
    4. Baumol, William J & Blackman, Sue Anne Batey & Wolff, Edward N, 1985. "Unbalanced Growth Revisited: Asymptotic Stagnancy and New Evidence," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(4), pages 806-817, September.
    5. Dubravko Mihaljek, 2005. "Free movement of capital, the real estate market and tourism: a blessing or a curse for Croatia on its way to the European Union?," Chapters in books, in: Katarina Ott (ed.), Croatian Accession to the European Union: Facing the Challenges of Negotiations, volume 3, chapter 8, pages 185-228, Institute of Public Finance.
    6. Martin Wolfe, 1955. "The Concept of Economic Sectors," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 69(3), pages 402-420.
    7. K. J. Arrow, 1971. "The Economic Implications of Learning by Doing," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: F. H. Hahn (ed.), Readings in the Theory of Growth, chapter 11, pages 131-149, Palgrave Macmillan.
    8. Andrea Mervar & James E. Payne, 2007. "Analysis of Foreign Tourism Demand for Croatian Destinations: Long-Run Elasticity Estimates," Tourism Economics, , vol. 13(3), pages 407-420, September.
    9. Tom Elfring, 1989. "New Evidence On The Expansion Of Service Employment In Advanced Economies," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 35(4), pages 409-440, December.
    10. Pugno, Maurizio, 2006. "The service paradox and endogenous economic growth," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 99-115, January.
    11. Katarina Ott (ed.), 2005. "Croatian Accession to the European Union: Facing the Challenges of Negotiations," Books on Croatian accession to the European Union, Institute of Public Finance, volume 3, number 3, December.
    12. Gundlach, Erich, 1994. "Demand Bias as an Explanation for Structural Change," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(2), pages 249-267.
    13. Abramovitz, Moses, 1986. "Catching Up, Forging Ahead, and Falling Behind," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 46(2), pages 385-406, June.
    14. Elfring, Tom, 1989. "New Evidence on the Expansion of Service Employment in Advanced Economies," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 35(4), pages 409-440, December.
    15. M. Thea Sinclair, 1998. "Tourism and economic development: A survey," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(5), pages 1-51.
    16. Allan G. B. Fisher, 1939. "Production, Primary, Secondary And Tertiary," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 15(1), pages 24-38, June.
    17. Mark Rogers, 2004. "Absorptive capability and economic growth: how do countries catch-up?," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 28(4), pages 577-596, July.
    18. Lucas, Robert Jr., 1988. "On the mechanics of economic development," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 3-42, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Robertico Croes & Manuel A. Rivera, 2017. "Tourism’s potential to benefit the poor," Tourism Economics, , vol. 23(1), pages 29-48, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Michael Peneder & Karl Aiginger & Gernot Hutschenreiter & Markus Marterbauer, 2001. "Structural Change and Economic Growth," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 20668, April.
    2. Matthias Figo & Peter Mayerhofer, 2015. "Strukturwandel und regionales Wachstum - wissensintensive Unternehmensdienste als Wachstumsmotor?," Working Paper Reihe der AK Wien - Materialien zu Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft 145, Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte für Wien, Abteilung Wirtschaftswissenschaft und Statistik.
    3. Andreas Dietrich, 2012. "Does growth cause structural change, or is it the other way around? A dynamic panel data analysis for seven OECD countries," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 43(3), pages 915-944, December.
    4. Peter Mayerhofer & Matthias Firgo, 2015. "Wissensintensive Unternehmensdienste, Wissens-Spillovers und regionales Wachstum. Teilprojekt 2: Strukturwandel und regionales Wachstum – Wissensintensive Unternehmensdienste als "Wachstumsmotor&," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 58503, April.
    5. Amavilah, Voxi Heinrich, 2014. "Knowledge = Technology + Human Capital and the Lucas and Romer Production Functions," MPRA Paper 58847, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Sasaki, Hiroaki, 2007. "The rise of service employment and its impact on aggregate productivity growth," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 438-459, December.
    7. Soete, Luc & Verspagen, Bart & ter Weel, Bas, 2010. "Systems of Innovation," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 1159-1180, Elsevier.
    8. Jochen Kurt Hartwig, 2010. "Baumol's Diseases," KOF Working papers 10-250, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich.
    9. Greiner, Alfred & Semmler, Willi, 2001. "Externalities of investment and endogenous growth: theory and time series evidence," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 295-310, September.
    10. Jens J. Krüger, 2008. "Productivity And Structural Change: A Review Of The Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(2), pages 330-363, April.
    11. Herrmann, Sabine & Winkler, Adalbert, 2009. "Real convergence, financial markets, and the current account - Emerging Europe versus emerging Asia," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 100-123, August.
    12. Terutomo Ozawa & Sergio Castello, 2001. "Toward an 'International Business' Paradigm of Endogenous Growth: Multinationals and Governments as Co-Endogenisers," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(2), pages 211-228.
    13. Bayraktar-Sağlam, Bahar & Yetkiner, Hakan, 2014. "A Romerian contribution to the empirics of economic growth," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 257-272.
    14. Paul M. Romer, 1994. "The Origins of Endogenous Growth," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 8(1), pages 3-22, Winter.
    15. Dietrich, Andreas & Krüger, Jens J., 2010. "Long-run sectoral development: Time-series evidence for the German economy," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 111-122, May.
    16. Hartwig, Jochen, 2012. "Testing the growth effects of structural change," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 11-24.
    17. Dobrescu, Emilian, 2011. "Sectoral Structure and Economic Growth," Journal for Economic Forecasting, Institute for Economic Forecasting, vol. 0(3), pages 5-36, September.
    18. Sasaki, Hiroaki, 2020. "Is growth declining in the service economy?," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 26-38.
    19. Amavilah, Voxi Heinrich, 2018. "Endogenous constraints, coefficients of economic distance, and economic performance of African countries – An exploratory essay," MPRA Paper 90065, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Muhammad Ali & Abiodun Egbetokun & Manzoor Hussain Memon, 2018. "Human Capital, Social Capabilities and Economic Growth," Economies, MDPI, vol. 6(1), pages 1-18, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Structural change; service sectors; social capabilities; economic development; tourism; Colombia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L83 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Sports; Gambling; Restaurants; Recreation; Tourism
    • L86 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Information and Internet Services; Computer Software
    • L88 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Government Policy
    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development
    • O54 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Latin America; Caribbean
    • Q01 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - General - - - Sustainable Development
    • Q5 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:col:000122:010630. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Valor Público EAFIT - Centro de estudios e incidencia (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cieafco.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.