A New Intuition into Tourism-Inclusive Growth Nexus in Turkey and Nigeria (1995 – 2018)

This paper examines the symmetric and asymmetric causal relationships between tourism and inclusive growth in Turkey and Nigeria over the period 1995Q1-2018Q4. The study employs a bootstrap simulation method with leverage adjustments to achieve the objective of the study. The method is used to see whether positive or negative tourism shocks cause inclusive growth and whether positive or negative inclusive growth shocks cause tourism activity. The results show no evidence of asymmetric causality between tourism and inclusive growth, while there is evidence of symmetric causality running from tourism to inclusive growth in Turkey. On the other hand, there is neither symmetric nor asymmetric causal relationship between tourism and inclusive growth in Nigeria. In sum, both neutrality and tourism-led growth hypothesis hold in Turkey, while Nigeria gives credence to neutrality hypothesis. The recommendations coming from the findings are that the tourism sector in both countries, Nigeria in particular, should be repositioned for better performance and effectiveness in stimulating inclusive growth. Rather than focusing on pro-poor and micro-based tourism policies that favour selected communities and localities, tourism should be included in development plans nationally, in order to ensure wider participation and more encompassing trickle-down effects on the citizenry. Furthermore, both countries should implement policies that will stimulate their tourism sectors for a larger and more significant contribution to real GDP.