Does the Tourism Development of a Destination Determine Its Socioeconomic Development? An Analysis through Structural Equation Modeling in Medium-Sized Cities of Andalusia, Spain

Medium-sized European cities have been playing an increasingly significant role in the economic development of countries in recent decades, establishing themselves as genuinely specialized local production systems with great potential for stimulating the economy and generating added value. In many of these cities, in addition, tourism has become an incredibly strong economic activity with the capacity to stimulate local economies, as it contributes to the enhancement of endogenous resources and the generation of a multiplier effect on other economic sectors. This paper uses a structural equation model to demonstrate, first, that a direct relationship exists between tourism development and economic development and second, that, of all cities analyzed (medium-sized cities of Andalusia, Spain), those with a higher level of tourism development are actually those showing a higher level of socioeconomic development, which confirms that tourism has great potential as a tool for endogenous development.