Economic effects of tourism and its influencing factors

The economic relevance of tourism has been proven by numerous studies using various theoretical constructs and methodological approaches. This introduction to the special issue provides an overview of the different concepts of the economic effects of tourism and distinguishes their most relevant influencing factors. Often overlooked influences are the geographical scale and the cost side of tourism. A special focus of this paper lies on a further determinant of economic impact of utmost importance: visitor spending. The role of visitors' expenditure behavior is comprehensively reviewed using an extensive literature base. Thus, we are able to identify the most important driving factors of visitor expenditure in tourism in a generalizable and systematic way.