The Impact of Tourism Development on the Urban Dimensions

In recent years, interest in tourism has spread rapidly throughout many small and medium Asian cities, which previously have not necessarily considered themselves as tourist destinations. Tourism is increasingly seen as a potential lever towards high economic growth, measured both in terms of income and employment. In the present Working Paper we report the analysis on the economic impact undertaken in the framework of the picture Project, showing the results of a novel econometric exercise to statistically assess the impacts of tourism upon Asian municipalities. More precisely the analysis aims at estimating the effects of tourism specializations on local income and prices.