Inbound Tourism and Economic Well-being: Evidence from Top Tourism-Receiving Countries

This study explains the relationship between inbound tourism and economic well-being in top tourism-receiving countries by employing annual data from 1995 to 2019. Four models have been considered for the study: total sample, high-income, middle-income, and lower-income group countries. Based on Westerlund panel cointegration, generalised method of moments (GMM), and pooled mean group (PMG) methods, the empirical results confirm a long-run relationship between economic well-being and inbound tourism in all the models. The results show that in both the overall and higher, middle, and lower-income groups’ models, inbound tourism significantly impacts economic well-being in top tourism-receiving countries.