Determinants of Operating Revenues: Travel Agencies vs Tour Operators in European Union

Abstract

AbstractThis paper examines the variables determining operating revenues (OR) of more than 15000 Travel Agency and Tour Operators Firms across European Union countries. Using the panel data obtained from BvD Amadeus and spanning the period 2010–2016, our research examines the impact of firm-level (total assets, number of employees) and country-level variables (number of arrivals) on OR in Travel Agencies and Tour Operators separately. Moreover, we also distinguish between firms operating in the South countries (Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, and Croatia) and North countries (rest of the EU countries). Our results show that there are significant differences between the determinants of OR between Tourist Agencies and Tour Operators, but even more significant differences are found when making comparison between North and South countries. While the size of firms’ assets is the main contributor of OR in the South countries, it is the number of employees that drives the OR in the North countries. Our results also confirm quantitative nature of tourism in the South countries when compared with qualitative nature of tourism in the North countries.KeywordsTravel agenciesTour operatorsOperating revenuesFirm-level analysisEuropean UnionJEL Classification CodesL25