Does health quality affect tourism? Evidence from system GMM estimates

Abstract

This study examines the impact of health quality on tourism. We argue that the health quality of host countries is a significant factor influencing tourist decisions and destination choices. We introduce health quality as a determinant of international tourism receipts, assuming that a proxy for health quality is a set of six health measures. The analysis is conducted by employing the system GMM estimation in two panels of 44 developing and 39 developed economies over the period 2000–2016. Our results suggest that health quality has a significant effect on international tourism receipts. In particular, these are affected positively by life expectancy, and negatively by mortality and the lifetime risk of maternal death rate. The domestic general government health expenditure for developed countries has a weak positive effect on international tourism receipts, while the prevalence of undernourishment in developing countries has a strongly negative effect. Finally, the tuberculosis death rate in developing countries has a negative impact on international tourism receipts.