The determinants of outbound tourism: a revisit of socioeconomic and environmental conditions

Abstract

This article investigates the drivers of outbound tourism. The originality of our approach is that it integrates socio-environmental aspects in the demand for international tourism. This study provides an empirical analysis for panel data of 82 economies from 2002 to 2016. Several estimates for panel data are applied. The results are robust and consistent. Beyond the classical economic drivers of tourism, socioeconomic factors, including urbanization, unemployment, vulnerable employment, and particularly aging population, are shown to play an important role in international tourism departures and international tourism expenditure. One of the notable findings is that environmental factors, including CO2 emissions (positive) and forest area (negative), have a significant effect on international tourism. The results also show a stronger influence of economic, social, and environmental determinants of outbound tourism in higher-income economies in the period after 2008.