{"title":"The political dimension of tourism: New insights into freedom of expression and tourism development","authors":"Umut Uzar, Mucahid Samet Yılmaz","doi":"10.1016/j.tmp.2025.101349","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Tourism, vital for global economic recovery post-pandemic, receives extensive attention. While economic and socio-cultural factors dominate inbound tourism studies, the political dimension remains elusive. Limited research delves into the political economy of tourism, primarily focusing on institutions, neglecting freedom of expression's potential impact on international tourists' destination preferences. This study addresses this gap by examining the drivers of inbound tourism across 137 countries from 2002 to 2020 using the Two-way Fixed Effects estimator, focusing on freedom of expression. Political instability and economic indicators such as per capita income, trade, exchange rates, and foreign direct investment (FDI) are control variables. Results underscore freedom of expression's pivotal role in bolstering tourist arrivals, especially in low-income nations, while political instability impedes tourism. Income and trade openness are positively associated with tourist arrivals, contrasting with FDI and exchange rate findings. Policymakers should prioritize freedom of expression and stability to boost tourism.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48141,"journal":{"name":"Tourism Management Perspectives","volume":"56 ","pages":"Article 101349"},"PeriodicalIF":7.3000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Tourism Management Perspectives","FirstCategoryId":"91","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211973625000133","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"HOSPITALITY, LEISURE, SPORT & TOURISM","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Tourism, vital for global economic recovery post-pandemic, receives extensive attention. While economic and socio-cultural factors dominate inbound tourism studies, the political dimension remains elusive. Limited research delves into the political economy of tourism, primarily focusing on institutions, neglecting freedom of expression's potential impact on international tourists' destination preferences. This study addresses this gap by examining the drivers of inbound tourism across 137 countries from 2002 to 2020 using the Two-way Fixed Effects estimator, focusing on freedom of expression. Political instability and economic indicators such as per capita income, trade, exchange rates, and foreign direct investment (FDI) are control variables. Results underscore freedom of expression's pivotal role in bolstering tourist arrivals, especially in low-income nations, while political instability impedes tourism. Income and trade openness are positively associated with tourist arrivals, contrasting with FDI and exchange rate findings. Policymakers should prioritize freedom of expression and stability to boost tourism.
期刊介绍:
Tourism Management Perspectives is an interdisciplinary journal that focuses on the planning and management of travel and tourism. It covers topics such as tourist experiences, their consequences for communities, economies, and environments, the creation of image, the shaping of tourist experiences and perceptions, and the management of tourist organizations and destinations. The journal's editorial board consists of experienced international professionals and it shares the board with Tourism Management. The journal covers socio-cultural, technological, planning, and policy aspects of international, national, and regional tourism, as well as specific management studies. It encourages papers that introduce new research methods and critique existing ones in the context of tourism research. The journal publishes empirical research articles and high-quality review articles on important topics and emerging themes that enhance the theoretical and conceptual understanding of key areas within travel and tourism management.