Comparative countries’ tourism technical efficiency assessment: A stochastic output distance function approach

Abstract

This study aims at analysing the technical efficiency of the tourism industry worldwide. Using a sample of 111 countries worldwide from 2008 to 2016, we estimated the tourism industry technical efficiency score to measure of the industry performance from a translog output distance function modelling. Our results showed that high-income countries are more efficient because of higher qualified labour, and higher productivity of natural and cultural resources. Besides, our results support that African and Asian countries are less efficient than those from Europe and America. For international comparison purposes, our findings suggested that the level of income and the location of destinations should be incorporated as determinants and inputs of the tourism production function to the technical efficiency. In the political view, policymakers are encouraged to be aware of the income level of their citizens to improve the performance of their tourism sector.