Tourism and regional economics

Although extant studies argue that tourism benefits local economies, scholars have often focused on one or a few perspectives when measuring the economic impact of tourism. This book chapter attempts to identify the concepts and applications of five theoretical models that may explain the dual roles of tourism in shaping regional development and disparities. Specifically, the convergence hypothesis can explain not only tourism's impact on a region's economic development but also the segmented convergence and increasing disparities. Growth pole theory explains how multiple tourism hot spots promote rural economic development, resulting in regional disparities in neighboring regions. New economic geography (NEG) contributes to the identification of both tourism urbanization and uneven spatial development. Evolutionary economic geography (EEG) has been applied to identify path dependence in tourist destinations and coevolution within complex tourism systems. Finally, location theory explains the macro- and microspatial organization of agricultural, manufacturing, and service firms, including tourism businesses, across locations. Despite remarkable contributions to theoretical models that explain the economic impact of tourism, researchers can enhance the knowledge of tourism-driven regional economics by investigating dynamic and partial convergence hypotheses, the combination of NEG and EEG, spatiotemporal EEG, economic resilience, and COVID-19's impact.