ABSTRACT
Typical RTAs are composed of member countries with diverse economic development levels. Benefits from the agreements are likely to be distributed unevenly among member countries. Bhagwati (2008) argues that smaller countries are disadvantaged because they are forced to accept terms beneficial to large economies. However, based on economists’ evaluations of agreements, expansions in welfare and GDP of the larger economy are negligible (Ahearn, 2010). Small economies gain more through integration (Asian Development Bank, 2008). While larger countries might not depend on their smaller partners for imports or exports, smaller countries need the support of larger countries to expand their supply and to access more lucrative markets. Whether smaller or larger economies gain more tourism trade by participating in RTAs is still little understood. Some empirical studies do focus on the tourism trade of smaller destinations, but they do not assess the intratourism trade as a consequence of RTAs based on economic size. For instance, even though Laos PDR is a member of ASEAN and located near to Thailand, one of the largest tourism destinations in the world, only the demand of overall international tourists to Laos has been studied (Phakdisoth & Kim, 2007; Nonthapot & Lean, 2013).
