Industry-region Position and Economic Performance of Travel and Tourism Service Industry: An Agglomeration Perspective

Abstract

Numerous studies have attempted to examine industry performance from an agglomeration perspective. However, many are still focused on the manufacturing sector. This study examines the travel and tourism service industry's economic position using an agglomeration perspective and whether this relates to its economic performance. This study discovered that, apart from being related to its intra-region position relative to other industries within the region, the economic performance of an industry in a region is also related to its intra-industry position relative to other distributive regions within the industry and to its national geographical concentration. A more significant finding is that regardless of either the intra-industry or intra-region position of the industry in a region, enhancing agglomeration not only increases competition and profit erosion but also improves labour productivity. For employment creation, it is more effective to develop an industry with more uniform national geographical distribution.

Keywords:

• Agglomeration
• travel and tourism
• geographic concentration
• performance

Acknowledgement

This research was supported by a National Science Council Grant research project (grant no. NSC 100-2410-H-228-005) awarded to Li-Yu Chan.