IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v10y2018i2p554-d132655.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Macroeconomic Determinants of International Casino Travel: Evidence from South Korea’s Top Four Inbound Markets

Author

Listed:
  • Hyunduk Suh

    (Department of Economics, Inha University, 404 Building 6, Incheon 22201, Korea)

  • Sung-Bum Kim

    (College of Business Administration, Inha University, 421B Building 6, Incheon 22201, Korea)

Abstract

This study investigates the macroeconomic determinants behind the number of foreign visitors to Korean casinos arriving from major source countries, namely Japan, Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR and Taiwan. Using monthly data from 2006 to 2016, we utilized a Structural Vector Autoregression (SVAR) model to investigate the dynamic effects of macroeconomic factors on the number of casino visitors. Estimation results supported the conclusion that visitors from Japan and Mainland China—who account for approximately three quarters of the total number of foreign casino visitors—were affected by macroeconomic or financial indicators such as changes in oil prices, exports and exchange rates (Japan), exports and short-term interest rates (Mainland China). In contrast, visitors from Hong Kong SAR did not seem to be influenced by any of these factors. We also found that the MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak in Korea in 2015 had a significant adverse effect on casino visitors from all regions. Implications and suggestions for future studies are provided along with the results of this study.

Suggested Citation

  • Hyunduk Suh & Sung-Bum Kim, 2018. "The Macroeconomic Determinants of International Casino Travel: Evidence from South Korea’s Top Four Inbound Markets," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-18, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:2:p:554-:d:132655
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/2/554/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/2/554/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. De Vita, Glauco, 2014. "The long-run impact of exchange rate regimes on international tourism flows," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 226-233.
    2. Chi-Ok Oh & William E. Hammitt, 2011. "Impact of Increasing Gasoline Prices on Tourism Travel Patterns to a State Park," Tourism Economics, , vol. 17(6), pages 1311-1324, December.
    3. T. Easton, Stephen, 1998. "Is Tourism Just Another Commodity? Links between Commodity Trade and Tourism," Journal of Economic Integration, Center for Economic Integration, Sejong University, vol. 13, pages 522-543.
    4. Abbas Valadkhani & Russell Smyth & Barry O’Mahony, 2017. "Asymmetric causality between Australian inbound and outbound tourism flows," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(1), pages 33-50, January.
    5. K. Jayaraman & Soh Keng Lin & Hasnah Haron & Wooi Leng Ong, 2011. "Macroeconomic Factors Influencing Malaysian Tourism Revenue, 2002–2008," Tourism Economics, , vol. 17(6), pages 1347-1363, December.
    6. Azmat Gani & Michael D. Clemes, 2017. "The main determinants effecting international visitor arrivals in New Zealand," Tourism Economics, , vol. 23(5), pages 921-940, August.
    7. Jungsun (Sunny) Kim & Mikael B. Ahlgren & Jeoung-Woo Byun & Kristin Malek, 2016. "Gambling motivations and superstitious beliefs: a cross-cultural study with casino customers," International Gambling Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(2), pages 296-315, August.
    8. Sims, Christopher A, 1980. "Macroeconomics and Reality," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(1), pages 1-48, January.
    9. Granger, C W J, 1969. "Investigating Causal Relations by Econometric Models and Cross-Spectral Methods," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 37(3), pages 424-438, July.
    10. James Lennox, 2012. "Impacts of High Oil Prices on Tourism in New Zealand," Tourism Economics, , vol. 18(4), pages 781-800, August.
    11. Jordan Shan & Ken Wilson, 2001. "Causality between trade and tourism: empirical evidence from China," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(4), pages 279-283.
    12. Donata Tania Vergura, 2015. "The Antecedents Of Gambling Behaviour From A Social Marketing Perspective," Journal of Gambling Business and Economics, University of Buckingham Press, vol. 9(1), pages 1-12.
    13. Wu, Shou-Tsung & Chen, Yeong-Shyang, 2015. "The social, economic, and environmental impacts of casino gambling on the residents of Macau and Singapore," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 285-298.
    14. William C. Wheaton & Lawrence Rossoff, 1998. "The Cyclic Behavior of the U.S. Lodging Industry," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 26(1), pages 67-82, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wei Fu & Shengnan Wei & Jue Wang & Hak-Seon Kim, 2022. "Understanding the Customer Experience and Satisfaction of Casino Hotels in Busan through Online User-Generated Content," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-18, May.
    2. Woraphon Yamaka & Xuefeng Zhang & Paravee Maneejuk, 2021. "Analyzing the Influence of Transportations on Chinese Inbound Tourism: Markov Switching Penalized Regression Approaches," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-23, March.
    3. Woo‐Hyuk Kim, 2018. "Performance drivers in the casino industry of South Korea," Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, The Crawford School, The Australian National University, vol. 32(2), pages 126-134, November.
    4. Jun Yu & Xiaobin Zhang & Hak-Seon Kim, 2023. "Using Online Customer Reviews to Understand Customers’ Experience and Satisfaction with Integrated Resorts," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-14, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. K. G. Suresh & Aviral Kumar Tiwari, 2018. "Does international tourism affect international trade and economic growth? The Indian experience," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 54(3), pages 945-957, May.
    2. Xue GAO & Hsu-Ling CHANG & Chi-Wei SU, 2018. "Does exchange rate always affect the number of inbound tourists significantly in China?," Theoretical and Applied Economics, Asociatia Generala a Economistilor din Romania / Editura Economica, vol. 0(1(614), S), pages 55-72, Spring.
    3. KAMKOUM, Arnaud Cedric, 2023. "The Federal Reserve’s Response to the Global Financial Crisis and its Effects: An Interrupted Time-Series Analysis of the Impact of its Quantitative Easing Programs," Thesis Commons d7pvg, Center for Open Science.
    4. Bierens, H.J. & Broersma, L., 1991. "The relation between unemployment and interest rate : some international evidence," Serie Research Memoranda 0112, VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Econometrics.
    5. Gossé, Jean-Baptiste & Guillaumin, Cyriac, 2013. "L’apport de la représentation VAR de Christopher A. Sims à la science économique," L'Actualité Economique, Société Canadienne de Science Economique, vol. 89(4), pages 309-319, Décembre.
    6. Agiakloglou, Christos & Gkouvakis, Michail, 2015. "Causal interrelations among market fundamentals: Evidence from the European Telecommunications sector," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 150-159.
    7. Bentour, El Mostafa, 2013. "Oil Prices, Drought Periods and Growth Forecasts in Morocco," MPRA Paper 52892, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Marin, Dalia, 1992. "Is the Export-Led.Growth Hypothesis Valid for Industrialized Countries?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 74(4), pages 678-688, November.
    9. Carl Deschamps & Jan Mattijs, 2015. "Anatomy of a performance management system: the elusive path from targets to productivity," Working Papers CEB 15-037, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    10. M. T. Alguacil & V. Orts, 2003. "Inward Foreign Direct Investment and Imports in Spain," International Economic Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(3), pages 19-38.
    11. José Manuel Ordóñez-de-Haro & Jordi Perdiguero & Juan-Luis Jiménez, 2020. "Fuel prices at petrol stations in touristic cities," Tourism Economics, , vol. 26(1), pages 45-69, February.
    12. Ramona Dumitriu & Razvan Stefanescu, 2015. "The Relationship Between Romanian Exports And Economic Growth After The Adhesion To European Union," Risk in Contemporary Economy, "Dunarea de Jos" University of Galati, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, pages 17-26.
    13. Dufour, Jean-Marie & Pelletier, Denis & Renault, Eric, 2006. "Short run and long run causality in time series: inference," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 132(2), pages 337-362, June.
    14. Gediminas Adomavicius & Jesse Bockstedt & Alok Gupta, 2012. "Modeling Supply-Side Dynamics of IT Components, Products, and Infrastructure: An Empirical Analysis Using Vector Autoregression," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 23(2), pages 397-417, June.
    15. Ericsson, Neil R & Hendry, David F & Mizon, Grayham E, 1998. "Exogeneity, Cointegration, and Economic Policy Analysis," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 16(4), pages 370-387, October.
    16. Andre van Stel & Lendert Baljeu & Roy Thurik & Ingrid Verheul, 2006. "The Contribution of Business Ownership in Bringing Down Unemployment in Japan," Papers on Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy 2006-05, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy Group.
    17. Tomasz Woźniak, 2016. "Bayesian Vector Autoregressions," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 49(3), pages 365-380, September.
    18. Christophe Chorro & Emmanuelle Jay & Philippe De Peretti & Thibault Soler, 2021. "Frequency causality measures and Vector AutoRegressive (VAR) models: An improved subset selection method suited to parsimonious systems," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 21013, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.
    19. Wisniewski, Tomasz Piotr & Lambe, Brendan John, 2015. "Does economic policy uncertainty drive CDS spreads?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 447-458.
    20. Eva Liljeblom & Sabur Mollah & Patrik Rotter, 2015. "Do dividends signal future earnings in the Nordic stock markets?," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 44(3), pages 493-511, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:2:p:554-:d:132655. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.