69210 - Tourism Macroeconomics

Learning outcomes

Learning Outcomes: At the end of the course, the student knows recent macroeconomic models and their application to tourism. Moreover, the student knows the literature on the impact of tourism on economic development, on foreign investments, on sustainability. More specifically, the student is able to critically evaluate the relationship between tourism specialisation and economic growth in an international context, to compare theoretical results with empirical evidence, to develop autonomous ability in undertaking empirical research in tourism macroeconomics.

Course contents

The course studies the impact of tourism on the macroeconomy, 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 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.

First part - The impact of Tourism in the Economy (21 hours).

Lectures (3-hour long) are scheduled in the first term, beginning in September 2021.

1. Monday 20 September, 12-15 (Angherà 3): Tourism: Concepts, Definitions and Measures;
2. Wednesday 22 September, 15-18 (Alberti 9): Tourism in the World Economy: an Overview, Figures and Trends;
3. Monday 27 September, 12-15 (Angherà 3): The Input-Output Matrix and the Tourism Satellite Accounting;
4. Monday 4 October, 12-15 (Angherà 3): The Tourism Destination and its pricing strategies;
5. Monday 11 October, 12-15 (Angherà 3): Planning and Coordination in the Tourism Destination;
6. Wednesday 13 October, 15-18 (Alberti 9): Price Coordination in the Tourism Destination;
7. Monday 18 October, 12-15 (Angherà 3): Tourism and the Macroeconomy: the income multiplier;
   

Second part - Tourism, Growth and Sustainability (21 hours).

Lectures (3-hour long) are scheduled in the Second term, beginning in November 2021.

1. Monday 8 November, 15-18 (Alberti 8): Tourism and Growth in a Cross-Section of Countries;
2. Wednesday 10 November, 12-15 (Alberti 6): Tourism, Growth and Sustainability;
3. Wednesday 17 November, 12-15 (Alberti 6): The public goods in the tourism sector;
4. Wednesday 24 November, 12-15 (Alberti 6): Externalities and Taxation in the tourism sector;
5. Monday 29 November, 15-18 (Alberti 8): Tourism, Development, and sustainability (Lecture given by Prof. Andrea Saayman, North-West University);
   
6. Wednesday 1 December, 12-15 (Alberti 6): Common Goods and Carrying Capacity;
7. Wednesday 15 December, 12-15 (Alberti 6): Tourism in the Covid-19 era

Laboratory of Macroeconomics (18 hours).

The laboratory is scheduled extensively (one session per week) in the first semester (I and II term).

1. Wednesday 29 September, 15-18 (Alberti 9): Research methods, bibliographic sources and economic databases;
2. Wednesday 6 October, 15-18 (Alberti 9): Select and download the data;
3. Wednesday 20 October, 15-18 (Alberti 9): Check and clean the data;
4. Monday 15 November, 15-18 (Alberti 8): An introduction to Stata;
5. Monday 22 November, 15-18 (Alberti 8): Statistical analysis with Stata;
6. Monday 6 December, 12-15 (Alberti 8): Working on the data.
   

Readings/Bibliography

First part - The impact of Tourism in the Economy

Guido Candela & Paolo Figini, The Economics of Tourism Destinations, Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag, 2012 (Chaps. 2, 3, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 13.1, 13.2, 14.3).

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

Second part - Tourism, Growth and Sustainability

Guido Candela & Paolo Figini, The Economics of Tourism Destinations, Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag, 2012 (Chaps. 13, 14, 15, 16).

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

Laboratory of Tourism Macroeconomics

Teaching material will be available in due time in the online repository.

Teaching methods

Lectures, seminars and lab work, which can also be attended online through Teams platform.

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 according to the general rules of the School of Economics and Management.

According to the evolution of the health situation, the exam could be provided online and/or offline (in presence, in Rimini), but more information will be given in due time.

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 (first week of November 2021), 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, 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.

The mark is out of 30 points, and the minimum required to pass the exam is 18 / 30.
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 and online, through Teams platform, if restrictions linked to the health situation will continue.

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

Office hours

See the website of Paolo Figini