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No Country Ever Got Rich From Tourism

palladiummag.com · 3,472 words · saved by 1 readers

In the United States, newscasters read out employment numbers and GDP growth figures. In Southern Europe, they read out tourist arrival numbers. In many countries, tourism has become synonymous with future economic prosperity. When put into numbers, the dependence of some countries on foreign tourist spending is staggering. In 2019, just before the COVID-19 pandemic threw global tourism into chaos, international tourist receipts were equivalent to 53% of Montenegro’s exports; the figures are similarly high for Albania (51%), Croatia (38%), Greece (28%), Portugal (23%), and even large countries like Spain (19%) and Turkey (16%). For comparison, automobiles are 17% of Germany’s exports and oil is 49% of the United Arab Emirates’ exports. Some European countries are more dependent on tourism than Dubai is on oil, and most of Southern Europe is more dependent on tourism than Germany is on exporting Volkswagens and BMWs. In the eyes of economists, this is simply the magic of comparative adv

Tara Glaser/Beach in Vela Luka, Croatia In the United States, newscasters read out employment numbers and GDP growth figures. In Southern Europe, they read out tourist arrival numbers. In many countries, tourism has become synonymous with future economic prosperity. When put into numbers, the dependence of some countries on foreign tourist spending is staggering. In 2019, just before the COVID-19 pandemic threw global tourism into chaos, international tourist receipts were equivalent to 53% of Montenegro’s exports; the figures are similarly high for Albania (51%), Croatia (38%), Greece (28%),

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