Proceedings of the 31st International Academic Conference, London

AIR ACCESS LIBERALISATION, MARKETING PROMOTION AND TOURISM TRADE

BOOPENDRA SEETANAH, RAJA VINESH SANNASSEE, VIRAIYEN TEEROOVENGADUM

Abstract:

The objective of the present study is two-fold. Firstly, to assess the impact of air access liberalization on tourism demand for Mauritius and secondly to analyse the dual impact of the interplay between air access liberalization and marketing promotion efforts on tourism demand. Using an Autoregressive Distributed Lag model, the results suggest that air access liberalisation is an important ingredient, albeit to a lesser extent as compared to other classical explanatory variables, of tourism demand. The results also highlight the fact that Mauritius is perceived as a luxurious destination and tourists are also deemed to be price sensitive. Moreover our dynamic approach interestingly confirms the presence of repeat tourism in the island. Finally, the findings also uncover the positive impact of the interplay between air access liberalization and marketing promotion efforts on fostering tourism demand.

Keywords: Air Transport Liberalisation, Tourism, Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model.

DOI: 10.20472/IAC.2017.031.044

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