The Impact of Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Indicators on Foreign Tourism Demand in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)

Today, the role of the tourism industry has been accepted as a category in creating fields of interaction between the countries of the world. Tourism in developed and developing countries is one of the basic approaches in creating sustainable employment, increasing per capita income, and diversifying sources of income. Various indicators affect the development of this industry and the number of tourists attracted by countries. Due to the importance of this issue, this study examines the effect of travel and tourism competitiveness indicators on foreign tourism demand in the Middle East and North Africa. The panel data model was used to measure the impact of these indicators for 15 countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) for the years 2011-2019, whose information is available in the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report. According to the results of this study, the three variables "air transport infrastructure", "labor market and human resources" and "price competitiveness" had the highest impact on attracting foreign tourists to the surveyed countries.