Are Visitor Arrivals to China Stationary? An Empirical Note

Abstract

The tourism industry is one of the earliest industries in China to be opened up to the world, with a more open market and relatively sufficient competition. In this article, we use the panel seemingly unrelated regressions augmented Dickey–Fuller (SURADF) tests advanced by Breuer, McNown, and Wallace [(2001). Misleading inferences from panel unit-root tests with an illustration from purchasing power parity. Review of International Economics, 9(3), 482–493] to investigate whether visitor arrivals to China are stationary for the period 1995–2010. The empirical results from numerous conventional unit root tests indicate that tourist arrivals from 18 countries studied are non-stationary; however, when Breuer et al.'s (2001) panel SURADF tests are conducted, evidence of a unit root in visitor arrivals is found in only 13 countries. From these results, one particularly important policy implication for China emerges.