B1746 - Tourism Economics

Learning outcomes

The course introduces the student to the specificities of the tourism sector, including the concept of tourism destination, and focuses on how tourism flows and their economic impact can be measured. Moreover, the course aims at investigating the literature on how tourism can trigger income, employment, and economic growth. More specifically, the student can critically evaluate the relationship between tourism specialization, development, and sustainability in an international context, to compare theoretical results with empirical evidence, this way developing autonomous ability in undertaking research in tourism economics.

Course contents

The course studies the impact of tourism on the economy, by highlighting the links with economic growth, development and the globalization. To reach this aim, the course is organised in two parts plus lab work, with a balance between theory and practice. The first part is an introduction to the issues of tourism organization and development, and its role within the economy; the second part analyses the relationship between tourism, growth and the environment, which pivots on the concept of sustainability. The laboratory tackles the research methoology and the analysis of data in the fields of tourism and economics.

Some of the lectures will be given by a guest speaker: prof. Andrea Saayman, of the North-West University, South Africa.

 

First part - Tourism in the Economy

1. Tuesday, September 24, 13-16, Room Alberti 7: Tourism. Definitions and key concepts.

2. Friday, September 27, 9.30-12.30, Room Alberti 3: Tourism in the world.

3. Friday, October 4, 9.30-12.30, Room Alberti 5: Tourism in national accounts.

4. Tuesday, October 8, 13-16, Room Alberti 7: The tourism destination (1).

5. Friday, October 11, 9.30-12.30, Room Alberti 5: The tourism destination (2).

6. Tuesday, October 15, 13-16, Room Alberti 7: The tourism destination (3)

7. Wednesday, October 16, 13-16, Room Alberti 11: Tourism demand

8. Friday, October 18, 9.30-12.30, Room Alberti 5: Tourism and the macroeconomy

9. Tuesday, October 22, 13-16, Room Alberti 7: Tourism and development

 

Second part - Tourism, Growth and Sustainability

1. Wednesday November 6, 9.30-12.30, Room Alberti 6: Tourism and economic growth

2. Friday November 8, 13-16, Room Alberti 6: Tourism, growth, and social inclusion

3. Wednesday November 20, 9.30-12.30, Room Alberti 6: Public goods

4. Wednesday November 27, 9.30-12.30, Room Alberti 6: Externalities

5. Wednesday December 4, 9.30-12.30, Room Alberti 6: Taxation

6. Friday December 6, 13-16, Room Alberti 6: Seasonality and Sustainability in Tourism

7. Wednesday December 11, 9.30-12.30, Room Alberti 6: Tourism and the global crises

 

Laboratory of tourism economics

The laboratory is scheduled extensively in the whole first semester (I and II term).

1. Tuesday, October 1, 13-16, Room Alberti 7: Lab 1 - Research methods, bibliographic sources and economic databases;

2. Monday, October 7, 9.30-12.30, Room Alberti 7: Lab 2 - Select and download the data;

3. Friday, October 25, 9.30-12.30, Room Alberti 5:Lab 3 - Check and clean the data;

4. Friday November 22, 13-16, Room Alberti 6: Lab 4 - An introduction to Stata;

5. Friday November 29, 13-16, Room Alberti 6: Lab 5 - Statistical analysis with Stata;

6. Tuesday, December 10, 13-16, Room Alberti 7: Lab 6 - Further Statistical Analysis with Stata

7. Friday December 13, 13-16, Room Alberti 6: Lab 7 - Assignment 2.

 

Readings/Bibliography

Guido Candela & Paolo Figini, The Economics of Tourism Destinations, Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag, 2012.

Lectures slides and other teaching material will be available in due time in the online repository

Teaching methods

Lectures, seminars, group discussions, and lab work.

Assessment methods

The exam is aimed at evaluating the skills and the critical abilities developed by the students as regards to: the analysis and interpretation of recent macroeconomic models and their application to tourism; the evaluation of the relationship between tourism specialisation and economic growth in an international context; the comparison of theoretical results with empirical evidence; the undertaking of empirical research in tourism macroeconomics, stemming from the collection of data, their interpretation and the ability to communicate the main results in a report.

The exam is composed of a written test (80% of the final mark), covering the topics of the two theoretical parts, and a practical test (20% of the final mark), covering the lab section. The exam has to be completed in the same date. It is not possible to bring books, personal notes or electronic devices in the exam.

The mark is out of 30 points, and the minimum required to pass the exam is 18 / 30. The grading scale for the exam is as follows:

18: pass (equivalent to E in the European scale)

19-21: sufficient (equivalent to D in the European scale)

22-24: fair (equivalent to C in the European scale)

25-27: good (equivalent to B in the European scale)

28-30: very good (equivalent to A in the European scale)

30 cum Laude (honors): excellent (equivalent to A+ in the European scale).

Registration for the exam is compulosry, and students have to register through AlmaEsami [https://almaesami.unibo.it/almaesami/welcome.htm] according to the general rules of the School of Economics and Management.

The exam will be offered through the online platform of the University (EOL - EsamiOnLine), accessible from one of the computer labs of the Rimini Campus.

For students attending lectures it is possibile to give the exam through three mid-term assessments:

The mid-term assessment for Part I (40% of the final mark) is scheduled at the end of the first term (End of October 2024), it is one-hour long and is composed of a series of multiple choice tests and an open question.

The mid-term assessment for Part II (40% of the final mark) is scheduled at the end of the second term (December 2024), it is one-hour long and is composed of a series of multiple choice tests and an open question. Only students who pass the first mid-term assessment are admitted to the second mid-term assessment.

The test for the laboratory (20% of the final mark) is an on-going assessment with statistical / econometric analysis of some data and group discussion and presentation of the results.

For students failing the exam through mid-term assessments there will be two make-up exams throughout the year: one in February, one in September.

Teaching tools

Lectures are given in presence at Rimini Campus and students can attend in the classroom. Lectures might be recorded and streamed online, through an Intranet platform, according to University regulations.

The laboratory uses bibliographic sources, databases and statistical software (STATA) to analyse data.

Office hours

See the website of Paolo Figini