ABSTRACT

This brings us to ‘the seven stylized facts of global tourism growth’ of Smeral (2001), developed on the occasion of the AIEST Congress in Malta, where ‘Tourism Growth and Global Competition’ was the central theme. In his contribution ‘Beyond the myth of growth in tourism’, Smeral underlined his seven stylized facts:

1. Tourism grows faster than the world economy, its income elasticity is above 1. Given that, tourism services are a luxury good.