Jorge Ridderstaat

The Tourism Development–Quality of Life Nexus in a Small Island Destination:

Tourism development (TD) and quality of life (QoL) have been studied mostly from the perspective of how TD affects QoL, but the inverse relationship is less widely researched. Understanding this interrelationship will broaden the definition and goals of development, and will help shifting the debate from an income perspective to a QoL standpoint. This study assesses the linkages between TD, QoL, and economic growth for the island of Aruba. The study contributes to the literature by improving the understanding of the nature of the relationship between TD and QoL, by advancing the theory-building process. The methodology involves multivariate cointegration analyses and Granger causality testing. The results confirm the two-way direct relationship between TD and QoL, with proactive roles for both direct and indirect relationships. The findings highlight the need for recognizing the importance of QoL in determining TD, and understanding the workings of TD and economic growth on QoL dimensions.

Tourism development, quality of life and exogenous shocks: a systemic framework

This paper proposes an analytical framework describing a triangle relationship between tourism development (TD), quality of life (QoL) of residents, and shocks or disturbances (SoD). The impacts of TD on QoL have been studied extensively in the literature, but the possible effects of QoL on TD have only been implicitly considered in some studies. Moreover, the influence of SoD on both TD and QoL has only rarely been covered in the literature, and, consequently, the overall relation between these three constructs has remained unstructured and incompletely formulated. The proposed framework contributes to a better understanding of both TD and QoL, thereby providing opportunities for improving both. Additionally, understanding the possible implications of SoD for both TD and QoL provides prospects for improving the preparedness and responsiveness of actors, while potentially speeding up the recovery after unexpected events.

The effects of business cycles on tourism demand flows in small island destinations

This study examines the liaison between business cycles and tourism demand flows to Aruba and Barbados by considering the between- and within-dimensions of business cycle effects. The study demonstrates that business cycles have a causal, dynamic bearing on tourism demand cycles, depending on the intrinsic dimensions that connect the two cycles. The methodology includes panel data analysis (unit root, cointegration, and Granger causality testing) on a transformed annual time series from 1970 to 2014. The study reveals that negative cycles indicate larger effects than positive cycles. However, these effects are not always present, are of short-term duration, and transitory in nature—depending on the cycle interval, the source country, and the destination. The study indicates the nature of the relationship between business and tourism demand flow cycles, which could help tourism managers and policy makers refine their tourism development strategies.

Impacts of Cyclic Patterns of Climate on Fluctuations in Tourism Demand: Evidence from Aruba

Impacts of Cyclic Patterns of Climate on Fluctuations in Tourism Demand: Evidence from Aruba This study estimates the influence of long cyclical climate patterns of pull and push climate elements (rainfall, temperature, wind) on cyclical fluctuations in tourism demand from the United States, the Netherlands and Venezuela on a small island state. Two important atmospheric variabilities, the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), were also included. Wavelet analysis was used because meteorological and economical time-series are typically noisy, complex and strongly non-stationary. Results show that both pull and push cyclical climate factors had an influence on tourism demand from the USA, the Netherlands and Venezuela. Furthermore, ENSO and NAO had also an influence on tourism demand from the USA and the Netherlands. The finding of a statistical relationship between atmospheric variabilities and tourism suggests that that they should be taken into account when developing tourism demand models, in order to create simpler econometric models.

Measuring Pattern, Amplitude and Timing Differences between Monetary and Non-Monetary Seasonal Factors of Tourism - The Case of Aruba

Seasonality is a frequent and important occurrence in the tourism industry, with concurrent effects on both the financial and volume flows of tourism. The purpose of this study is to measure pattern, amplitude and timing differences between the seasonal factors of monetary and non-monetary indicators of tourism development in Aruba. The study contributes to filling the gap in the literature on the dynamics in the co-movement of these two types of seasonal factors, with the simultaneous incorporation of three measurement dimensions of this relationship. The methodology involves decomposing time series on both stay-over tourism and tourism expenditure using the Census X-12 technique, with the subsequent calculation of Pearsons correlation coefficients, ratios of amplitudes and timing differentials of peaks and troughs. The results show important differences in the pattern, amplitude and timing of the seasonal factors.

The Bilateral Relationship Between Tourism and Dengue Occurrence: Evidence From Aruba

This study estimates the bilateral effects between seasonal patterns of dengue incidences and the recurring fluctuations of both stay-over tourism and cruise tourism. Seasonal patterns were first isolated from the series using the Census X-12 decomposition method, after which the analysis included panel data unit root testing, panel data regression, and Mahalanobis distance calculation. The results show that cruise tourism increases dengue cases in Aruba, while dengue cases themselves had no influence on the number of stay-over and cruise visitors in Aruba. The study hints for an economical duality in cruise tourism in Aruba: (1) On one hand, cruise tourists who arrive at the harbor contribute to the economy of Aruba due to their spending activities; and (2) On the other hand, cruise tourists can induce costs by increasing the risk of spreading dengue. The Mahalanobis distance showed that the sensitivity of dengue cases to cruise tourism was the strongest during February, April-July, October, and November.