The Impact of Economic Freedoms on Tourism Competitiveness: Empirical Evidence from Latin America Countries

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the relationship between economic freedoms and tourism competitiveness with respect to Latin American countries. Index of Economic Freedom published by Heritage Foundation was used as the indicator of economic freedoms. Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index published by World Economic Forum was utilized as the indicator of tourism competitiveness. In addition to government spending, which is a sub-index of the index of economic freedom, Corruption Perception Index, GDP per capita, foreign direct investments, and trade openness ratio were included in the study as control variables. Panel data analysis was carried out using data of the period 2007-2019 belonging to 18 Latin American countries. It was found out at the end of the analysis that as economic freedoms increased in Latin American countries; tourism competitiveness also increased in these countries.