TOURISM, ECONOMIC WELFARE AND EFFICIENT PRICING

A theoretical framework based on economics is provided for assessing tourism's costs and benefits. Suppose that resources utilized by tourists are owned by residents and, as marketed goods or services, are priced efficiently. Then increased tourism promotes net average (i.e., Pareto) economic gains for residents even in the face of such things as increased environmental costs and increased charges. Therefore, under these circumstances, there is no case for entry taxes or qualitative restrictions on tourism to deal with environmental issues. However, such taxes can be justified on rent-seeking grounds that are discussed in this paper.