Does country risk influence international tourism? A dynamic panel data analysis

International tourism determinants have been studied in recent research, and focus has been given to estimation of demand equations. Country risk has been somewhat neglected in the analysis. Given adequate controls for price and income, we show that country risk is a robust and significant determinant of tourism specialisation of countries: a 1 per cent increase in country risk causes a 0.2 per cent fall in tourism specialisation. Policy-makers should be aware of the negative effect country risk has in tourism, as this is seen as one of the most promising sectors for development.