Impacts of tourism and fiscal expenditure to remote islands: the case of the Amami islands in Japan

Abstract

The Amami islands are located 380 km southwest of Japan proper. These islands have two economic features: they are islands that many tourists visit because of their natural resources and they are an undeveloped area where the central government of Japan provides large fiscal subsidies. We investigate the impacts of tourism and fiscal expenditure simultaneously. The results show that one tourist and about 52 000 yen (about US$480) fiscal expenditure are substitutable in the end.

Acknowledgement

Financial support from the Sumitomo Foundation is grateful acknowledged.