Tourism Equilibrium Price Trends

Abstract

Problem statement: A review of the tourism history shows that tourism as an industry was virtually unknown in Malaysia until the late 1960s. Since then, it has developed and grown into a major industry, making an important contribution to the country's economy. By allocating substantial funds to the promotion of tourism and the provision of the necessary infrastructure, the government has played an important role in the impressive progress of the Malaysian tourism industry. One of the important factors which can attract tourists to Malaysia is the tourism price. Has the price of tourism decreased? To answer this question, it is necessary to obtain the equilibrium prices as well as the yearly trend for Malaysia during the sample period as it will be useful for analysis of the infrastructure situation of the tourism industry in this country. The purpose of the study is to identify equilibrium tourism price trends in Malaysian tourism market. Approach: We use hotel room as representative of tourism market. Quarterly data from 1995-2009 are used and a dynamic model of simultaneous equation is employed. Results: Based on the result during the period of 1995 until 2000, the growth rate of the equilibrium price was greater than consumer price index and producer price index. Conclusion: In the Malaysian tourism market, new infrastructure during this period had not been developed to keep pace with tourist arrivals.