How does the country of origin affect tourist expenditure? An extended quantile regression analysis

ABSTRACT

Nationality is considered a highly relevant determinant of tourism expenditure. In this paper, we use survey data to estimate the main determinants of daily tourism expenditure in 2019 for five nationalities of a major coastal destination, the Canary Islands. A total of 38 regressors, based on literature, are used with the help of quantile regression analysis to understand the behaviour patterns of different expenditure segments. To obtain segmented information on the determinants of expenditure, independent quantile regression models for each nationality are estimated and compared. Results show that there are similarities but also some remarkable differences between nationalities regarding income, age, travel group, educational level, or content of the package that can be used in destination management and marketing.

KEYWORDS:

• Tourist expenditure
• country of origin
• coastal destinations
• Canary Islands
• quantile regression

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ángel Martín Ramos-Domínguez

Ángel Martín Ramos-Domínguez is Senior Lecturer of Applied Statistics in Economics, Business and Tourism at the Department of Applied Economics and Quantitative Methods, University of La Laguna, Canary Islands. He obtained his PhD in Economics and Business. His research focuses on Quantitative Methods applied to Economics, Business and Tourism. His research has appeared, among others, in Tourism and Hospitality Research and the British Food Journal.

Raúl Hernández-Martín

Raúl Hernández-Martín is Senior Lecturer of Tourism Economics at the Department of Applied Economics and Quantitative Methods, University of La Laguna, Canary Islands. He currently holds the Chair in Tourism at the University of La Laguna. His research focuses on tourism economic impacts, tourism satellite accounts, measuring the sustainability of tourism destinations, and island tourism development. His research has been published in Tourism Management, Tourism Economics, International Journal of Tourism Research, Current Issues in Tourism, or Journal of Sustainable Tourism.

Hugo Padrón-Ávila

Hugo Padrón-Ávila obtained his PhD at the University of La Laguna in 2021. He is a researcher at the Department of Applied Economics and Quantitative Methods of the University of La Laguna and lecturer at the European University of the Canary Islands. His research focuses on analyzing tourists’ behaviour and mobility patterns. His research has appeared in International Journal of Tourism Research, Sustainability, or European Journal of Tourism Research