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Do international tourist arrivals change residents’ attitudes towards immigration? A longitudinal study of 28 European countries

Ivlevs, Artjoms; Smith, Ian

Do international tourist arrivals change residents’ attitudes towards immigration? A longitudinal study of 28 European countries Thumbnail


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Abstract

Can international tourist arrivals change residents’ attitudes towards immigrants and immigration? We discuss possible underlying mechanisms and provide the first evidence on this question using data from the European Social Survey (2002–2019; n=333,505). We find that, as tourist arrivals grow, residents become more positive towards immigration in Eastern Europe. In Western Europe, the relationship tends to turn from positive to negative at relatively high levels of tourism. The instrumental variable analysis suggests that incoming tourism has a positive causal effect on attitudes towards immigration in both Western and Eastern Europe. Overall, our study reveals an overlooked dimension of the tourism-migration nexus and highlights the role that international tourism may play in shaping attitudes towards immigration and, through these attitudes, immigration policy and flows, immigrant integration and more open and inclusive societies in tourism-receiving countries.

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Oct 21, 2022
Online Publication Date Nov 4, 2022
Publication Date Feb 29, 2024
Deposit Date Nov 2, 2022
Publicly Available Date Jan 17, 2024
Journal Tourism Economics
Print ISSN 1354-8166
Electronic ISSN 2044-0375
Publisher SAGE Publications
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 30
Issue 1
Pages 104-131
DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/13548166221137950
Keywords Immigration, tourism, Attitudes towards immigration, Inclusion, Europe, Instrumental variable analysis
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/10112705

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