Calibrating the Impacts of Regional Trade Integration and Renewable Energy Transition on the Sustainability of International Inbound Tourism Demand in South Asia

Abstract

This paper aims to evaluate the overarching relationships between International Inbound Tourism Demand (IITD), regional trade integration and Renewable Energy Transition (RET) in the context of selected South Asian economies between 1990 and 2016. The results from the panel data econometric analyses, accounting for cross-sectional dependency and slope heterogeneity issues, showed that higher degrees of intra-regional trade between the South Asian economies exert positive impacts on the IITD in South Asia. Similarly, undergoing a RET was found to stimulate the IITD further. Besides, the joint favorable impacts of regional trade integration and RET on South Asia’s IITD were also ascertained. Therefore, these findings impose key policy implications concerning the pertinence of strengthening regional trade cooperation between the South Asian neighbors and boosting renewable energy consumption for enhancing the IITD further.