IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v10y2018i2p554-d132655.html

The Macroeconomic Determinants of International Casino Travel: Evidence from South Korea’s Top Four Inbound Markets

Author

Listed:
  • Hyunduk Suh

    (Department of Economics, Inha University, 404 Building 6, Incheon 22201, Korea)

  • Sung-Bum Kim

    (College of Business Administration, Inha University, 421B Building 6, Incheon 22201, Korea)

Abstract

This study investigates the macroeconomic determinants behind the number of foreign visitors to Korean casinos arriving from major source countries, namely Japan, Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR and Taiwan. Using monthly data from 2006 to 2016, we utilized a Structural Vector Autoregression (SVAR) model to investigate the dynamic effects of macroeconomic factors on the number of casino visitors. Estimation results supported the conclusion that visitors from Japan and Mainland China—who account for approximately three quarters of the total number of foreign casino visitors—were affected by macroeconomic or financial indicators such as changes in oil prices, exports and exchange rates (Japan), exports and short-term interest rates (Mainland China). In contrast, visitors from Hong Kong SAR did not seem to be influenced by any of these factors. We also found that the MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak in Korea in 2015 had a significant adverse effect on casino visitors from all regions. Implications and suggestions for future studies are provided along with the results of this study.

Suggested Citation

  • Hyunduk Suh & Sung-Bum Kim, 2018. "The Macroeconomic Determinants of International Casino Travel: Evidence from South Korea’s Top Four Inbound Markets," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-18, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:2:p:554-:d:132655
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/2/554/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/2/554/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chi-Ok Oh & William E. Hammitt, 2011. "Impact of Increasing Gasoline Prices on Tourism Travel Patterns to a State Park," Tourism Economics, , vol. 17(6), pages 1311-1324, December.
    2. Stephen T. Easton, 1998. "Is Tourism Just Another Commodity? Links between Commodity Trade and Tourism," Journal of Economic Integration, Center for Economic Integration, Sejong University, vol. 13, pages 522-543.
    3. Abbas Valadkhani & Russell Smyth & Barry O’Mahony, 2017. "Asymmetric causality between Australian inbound and outbound tourism flows," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(1), pages 33-50, January.
    4. K. Jayaraman & Soh Keng Lin & Hasnah Haron & Wooi Leng Ong, 2011. "Macroeconomic Factors Influencing Malaysian Tourism Revenue, 2002–2008," Tourism Economics, , vol. 17(6), pages 1347-1363, December.
    5. Azmat Gani & Michael D. Clemes, 2017. "The main determinants effecting international visitor arrivals in New Zealand," Tourism Economics, , vol. 23(5), pages 921-940, August.
    6. Sims, Christopher A, 1980. "Macroeconomics and Reality," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(1), pages 1-48, January.
    7. Donata Tania Vergura, 2015. "The Antecedents Of Gambling Behaviour From A Social Marketing Perspective," Journal of Gambling Business and Economics, University of Buckingham Press, vol. 9(1), pages 1-12.
    8. De Vita, Glauco, 2014. "The long-run impact of exchange rate regimes on international tourism flows," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 226-233.
    9. Jungsun (Sunny) Kim & Mikael B. Ahlgren & Jeoung-Woo Byun & Kristin Malek, 2016. "Gambling motivations and superstitious beliefs: a cross-cultural study with casino customers," International Gambling Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(2), pages 296-315, August.
    10. Granger, C W J, 1969. "Investigating Causal Relations by Econometric Models and Cross-Spectral Methods," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 37(3), pages 424-438, July.
    11. Johansen, Soren, 1991. "Estimation and Hypothesis Testing of Cointegration Vectors in Gaussian Vector Autoregressive Models," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 59(6), pages 1551-1580, November.
    12. James Lennox, 2012. "Impacts of High Oil Prices on Tourism in New Zealand," Tourism Economics, , vol. 18(4), pages 781-800, August.
    13. Jordan Shan & Ken Wilson, 2001. "Causality between trade and tourism: empirical evidence from China," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(4), pages 279-283.
    14. Wu, Shou-Tsung & Chen, Yeong-Shyang, 2015. "The social, economic, and environmental impacts of casino gambling on the residents of Macau and Singapore," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 285-298.
    15. William C. Wheaton & Lawrence Rossoff, 1998. "The Cyclic Behavior of the U.S. Lodging Industry," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 26(1), pages 67-82, March.
    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. Wei Fu & Shengnan Wei & Jue Wang & Hak-Seon Kim, 2022. "Understanding the Customer Experience and Satisfaction of Casino Hotels in Busan through Online User-Generated Content," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-18, May.
    2. Woraphon Yamaka & Xuefeng Zhang & Paravee Maneejuk, 2021. "Analyzing the Influence of Transportations on Chinese Inbound Tourism: Markov Switching Penalized Regression Approaches," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-23, March.
    3. Woo‐Hyuk Kim, 2018. "Performance drivers in the casino industry of South Korea," Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, The Crawford School, The Australian National University, vol. 32(2), pages 126-134, November.
    4. Jun Yu & Xiaobin Zhang & Hak-Seon Kim, 2023. "Using Online Customer Reviews to Understand Customers’ Experience and Satisfaction with Integrated Resorts," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-14, August.

    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. K. G. Suresh & Aviral Kumar Tiwari, 2018. "Does international tourism affect international trade and economic growth? The Indian experience," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 54(3), pages 945-957, May.
    2. Ramona Dumitriu & Razvan Stefanescu, 2015. "The Relationship Between Romanian Exports And Economic Growth After The Adhesion To European Union," Risk in Contemporary Economy, "Dunarea de Jos" University of Galati, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, pages 17-26.
    3. Ericsson, Neil R & Hendry, David F & Mizon, Grayham E, 1998. "Exogeneity, Cointegration, and Economic Policy Analysis," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 16(4), pages 370-387, October.
    4. Andreas G. Georgantopoulos, 2013. "Tourism Expansion and Economic Development: Var/Vecm Analysis and Forecasts for the Case of India," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 3(4), pages 464-482, April.
    5. Григорьев Р.А., 2019. "Одновременные Эффекты Несинхронных Временных Рядов: Проблемы Var-Модели," Журнал Экономика и математические методы (ЭММ), Центральный Экономико-Математический Институт (ЦЭМИ), vol. 55(2), pages 118-129, апрель.
    6. Le Fur, Eric, 2020. "Dynamics of the global fine art market prices," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 167-180.
    7. Zhang, Wei & Yang, Shuyun, 2013. "The influence of energy consumption of China on its real GDP from aggregated and disaggregated viewpoints," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 76-81.
    8. Farzanegan, Mohammad Reza & Markwardt, Gunther, 2009. "The effects of oil price shocks on the Iranian economy," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 134-151, January.
    9. K. Lebedeva, 2015. "An Empirical Analysis of the Russian Financial Markets’ Liquidity and Returns," Review of Business and Economics Studies // Review of Business and Economics Studies, Финансовый Университет // Financial University, vol. 3(3), pages 5-31.
    10. Caporale, Guglielmo Maria & Hassapis, Christis & Pittis, Nikitas, 1998. "Unit roots and long-run causality: investigating the relationship between output, money and interest rates," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 91-112, January.
    11. Chien-Chiang Lee & Chun-Ping Chang, 2006. "The Long-Run Relationship Between Defence Expenditures And Gdp In Taiwan," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(4), pages 361-385.
    12. Leitao, Joao & Armada, Manuel Rocha & Ferreira, Joaaquim, 2012. "Corruption and Co-Movements in European Listed Sport Companies: Did Calciocaos really matter?," MPRA Paper 42474, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Borozan, Djula, 2013. "Exploring the relationship between energy consumption and GDP: Evidence from Croatia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 373-381.
    14. Robaina, M. & Madaleno, M. & Silva, S. & Eusébio, C. & Carneiro, M.J. & Gama, C. & Oliveira, K. & Russo, M.A. & Monteiro, A., 2020. "The relationship between tourism and air quality in five European countries," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 261-272.
    15. Shammugam, Shivenes & Rathgeber, Andreas & Schlegl, Thomas, 2019. "Causality between metal prices: Is joint consumption a more important determinant than joint production of main and by-product metals?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 49-66.
    16. João Leitão, 2004. "Demand Pull And Supply Push In Portuguese Cable Television," Econometrics 0409011, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Sophia Dimelis, 1997. "Cyclical and causal relations between real wages and employment in the EU," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(3), pages 311-324.
    18. Yang, Jack J. W., 2002. "The information spillover between stock returns and institutional investors' trading behavior in Taiwan," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 533-547.
    19. Xue GAO & Hsu-Ling CHANG & Chi-Wei SU, 2018. "Does exchange rate always affect the number of inbound tourists significantly in China?," Theoretical and Applied Economics, Asociatia Generala a Economistilor din Romania / Editura Economica, vol. 0(1(614), S), pages 55-72, Spring.
    20. Manolis Kavussanos & Nikos Nomikos, 2003. "Price Discovery, Causality and Forecasting in the Freight Futures Market," Review of Derivatives Research, Springer, vol. 6(3), pages 203-230, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:2:p:554-:d:132655. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.