The economic importance of the tourism transport activity and its role in maximizing revenues for the tourism sector in Iraq

Abstract

The study deals with a basic problem embodied in the absence of official statistical surveys for the tourism sector within the reports of the Central Statistical Organization in the Ministry of Planning of indicators or data on the volume of revenue from the tourism transport activity in Iraq, in addition to the absence of indicators that reflect the economic importance of the tourism transport activity in relation to the tourism sector or the economic structure For Iraq, except for the availability of the 2019 Tourism Expenditure Survey, which was used to obtain data for our study. The importance of the study is shown by identifying the volume of tourism revenues generated by the tourism transport activity in the tourism sector compared with other categories of tourism activity, in addition to showing the economic importance of the tourism transport activity within the framework of the tourism sector in particular, and the economic structure in general. The aim of the study was to investigate the reasons for the absence of transport indicators for tourism activity and the revenues it achieves that contribute to supporting the tourism sector, and to develop solutions to address those reasons, in addition to highlighting the economic importance of tourism transport activity in the gross national product, the balance of payments, reducing unemployment, and investing in infrastructure. Infrastructure and superstructure of the tourism transport activity. The study adopted the use of the descriptive method in the theoretical aspect, in addition to the use of the analytical method in interpreting the data available in reports and statistical surveys of the activity of the tourism sector and the activity of the transport sector, which were obtained from the Central Bureau of Statistics, the Ministry of Planning in Iraq. The study ended with a set of results that included the realization of the two hypotheses (the existence hypothesis H1), and on the basis of which a set of recommendations were developed that contribute to maximizing the role of tourism transport and its economic importance in the tourism sector, which is reflected on the economic structure of Iraq.