Abstract
ABSTRACT This study investigates the effects of bilateral media freedom on inbound tourist arrivals when natural disasters hit the destination country by analyzing a panel integrated data set covering 184 origin countries and 141 destination countries, comprising a total of 192,635 bilateral tourist movement relationships from 1995 to 2016. The results of gravity models with various robustness tests reveal that a higher level of media freedom in the destination (origin) country attracts (reduces) inbound tourist arrivals. More specifically, media freedom in the destination (origin) country lessens (exacerbates) the negative impact of natural disasters on inbound tourist arrivals to the affected country. These results advance the knowledge about media freedom in the field of international tourism following natural disasters, highlighting the importance of differentiated bilateral media communication strategies after natural disasters for destination countries.
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