Title: Identifying travel and tourism industry clusters: an empirical analysis using macro-economic data

Authors: Amanpreet Kang

Addresses: Amity Business School, F-2 Block, 3rd Floor, Faculty Suites (M&S – II), Amity University Campus, Sector-125, Noida, India

Abstract: Travel and tourism industry if developed strategically can prove to be the 'golden goose' for any economy contributing to employment, national income, balance of payments and foreign exchange earnings. The successful development of this industry is reliant on several factors viz., tourism openness, government expenditure, infrastructure and skilled resources, etc. The present research identified 20 such macro-economic variables that impact the growth and development of travel and tourism industry and data was collected for 140 countries from various sources. Analysis was done using multivariate technique resulting in the formation of 'four' distinct clusters. The clusters were studied to establish whether these destinations have the potential for the development of travel and tourism industry. This research is an attempt to draw attention of the policy makers towards the overlooked resources of their regions, especially those contributing to development of travel and tourism, which can be utilised for effectively marketing their destinations.

Keywords: travel and tourism industry; macroeconomic variables; hierarchical cluster analysis; K-means clustering; industry potential; economic growth; tourism clusters; tourism marketing.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLTM.2014.065879

International Journal of Leisure and Tourism Marketing, 2014 Vol.4 No.2, pp.135 - 155

Received: 24 Apr 2014
Accepted: 28 May 2014
Published online: 28 Nov 2014 *

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