Efficiency Assessment of Tourism Industry in Developing Countries in the Context of Infrastructure: A Two-Stage Super-Efficiency Slacks-Based Measure

摘要

Most developing countries cannot earn a substantial share in the global tourism market despite possessing a competitive advantage in resources and tourist attraction potential. This research evaluates tourism industry efficiency in the context of infrastructure using a performance measurement framework based on a two-stage super-efficiency slacks-based measure approach to identify internal sources of this issue. Data from 24 developing countries for the years 2013, 2015, and 2017 are used. In the first stage, the tourism industry efficiency based on infrastructure is divided into two subunits: supporting visitor infrastructure and demand driver infrastructure. Next, the overall efficiency scores are calculated. According to the empirical results, the selected countries mostly had low efficiency in the tourism industry and failed to achieve desired output level relative to their potential. The analysis of this study shows that their unfavorable tourism industry performance results from the lack of infrastructure, undeveloped infrastructure, and the absence of proper strategies to establish and improve infrastructure. These findings contribute an in-depth and useful insight into the relationship between infrastructure status and tourism efficiency, which can be an invaluable step towards improving the tourism industry and consequently achieving economic prosperity and social welfare.