Geografické, environmentální a socioekonomické determinanty cestovního ruchu v malých ostrovních rozvojových státech (SIDS)

Abstract

Geographic, environmental and socio - economic determinants of tourism in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Small Island Developing States (SIDS) represent a heterogeneous group of countries with specific development challenges. One of the common characteristics is a significant tourist potential which is not sufficiently exploited in many SIDS. The paper focuses on the analysis of factors that can influence the number of foreign tourists arriving in SIDS. The statistical significance of potentially relevant factors is exa - mined by regression analysis applied to panel data over 2005 – 2016. The results indicate that the key determinants of tourism demand are destination accessibility, climate (pattern of the weather) and the level of economic development of destinations. Hygienic conditions and tourism infrastructure development are also important factors for tourism inflows. On the contrary, the level of political stability and absence of violence/terrorism play a less statistically significant role in international tourist arri- vals while the level of prices and the rate of intentional homicide do not show any statistical significance. The results also suggest that SIDS should improve transport and tourism infrastructure and that they should increase the hygienic standards to attract more international tourists. However, due to the inherent environmental fragili- ty and cultural uniqueness of many small islands, the SIDS must pay special attention to sustainable tourism development at the same time. The aim of the study is to uncover factors that may influence the number of internatio - nal tourist visits to Small Island Developing States (SIDS). For this purpose, a panel regression analysis over 2005 – 2016 was employed. This methodological approach can be found in the literature on tourism development (Tasci 2007, Cho 2010 and Valek et al. 2014), however not in the context of SIDS. The dependent variable in the analysis is the annual number of tourist arrivals to individual SIDS. The following three groups of factors are used on the side of independent variables: geographical and environmental, economic, social and institutional. The results indicate that the key determinants of tourism demand are destination acces- sibility, climate (pattern of the weather) and the level of economic development of destinations. The hygienic conditions and the level of tourism infrastructure development in SIDS are also important for tourism inflows. On the contrary, the level of political stability and absence of violence/terrorism plays a less statistically significant role in international tou rists arrivals while the level of prices and the rate of intentional homicide do not show any statistical significance. The results suggest that Small Island Developing States can encourage the development of their tourism industries by improving the transport infrastructure to enhance the accessibility of those destinations. They should also invest into the tourism infrastructure develop- ment as well as increase the hygienic standards to attract more international tourists. However, due to the inherent environmental fragility and cultural uniqueness of many small islands, the SIDS must pay special attention to sustainable tourism development.