TESTING THE TOURISM-LED GROWTH HYPOTHESIS: THE CASE OF MALTA

Abstract

Tourism-Led Growth (TLG) hypothesis results are inconclusive for Mediterranean countries in the relevant literature. This study contributes to the literature by employing the bounds test for co-integration and Granger causality tests to investigate level relationship and the direction of causality between international tourism and economic growth in the case of Malta. Results reveal that a long-run equilibrium relationship exists between international tourism and economic growth in the case of Malta. On the other hand, Granger causality test results suggest that both the Tourism-Led Growth and output-driven tourism hypotheses can be inferred for Malta since there is bidirectional causation between international tourism and economic growth.