Contribution of disaggregated tourism on Thailand's economic growth

Abstract

     The objective of this research was to evaluate whether expansion of the tourism industry has contributed to Thailand's economic growth, and vice versa. This study used international tourist arrivals from different continents in order to pinpoint which of these continents contributes the most to Thailand's economic growth. Time series techniques including cointegration and Granger causality tests were used to test the hypothesis of tourism-led economic growth in Thailand. The results showed that tourists from South Asia led Thailand's economic growth, and Thailand's economic growth also increased the number of tourists from Oceania. The results from this study suggest that in order to promote tourism industry, policy-makers should place emphasis on the Oceania and South Asian markets. Therefore, study on the behavior and preferences of tourists from these continents would help to find ways to increase the numbers of tourists from these regions.