The role of digital public services in promoting international tourism: empirical evidence from European regions

Purpose The present study investigates a nexus between digital public services (DPS) and international tourism empirically. Design/methodology/approach This article analyzes the nexus of DPS and international tourism by using the international sample of 23 European countries in the span of nearly 10 years from 2011 to 2019. Various econometric techniques, including the panel-corrected standard error (PCSE) model and the feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) model, are employed to confirm the author’s findings. Furthermore, the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) method is applied to measure the short- and long-run effects of DPS on international tourism developments. Findings Tourism is positively influenced by digitalization, implying that the enhancement of digital public service usage results in the development of the tourism industry. However, when looking at the effect of DPS in the short term, a negative impact can be found on tourism, as the density reported in the previous analysis stated a negative response to the tourism density. This effect spans the course of several facets, such as international tourism arrivals, international tourism receipt, international tourism, receipts (% of total exports) and global tourism expenditure (% of total imports). Although the result is unfavorable in the short term, digitalization promises great prospects for tourism in the long term. Notably, an improvement in economic growth, financial development as well a reduction in the pervasiveness of corruption and an improvement of environmental quality are transmission channels through which DPS have favorable influences on tourism activities. Practical implications The author’s findings are vital for managers and policymakers to establish a comprehensive grasp of digitalization's role in deciding tourist adoption. This is because digitalization has been proven to play a role in determining tourism adoption. Originality/value The present study is the first to examine the relationship between DPS and international tourism empirically. The author is also the first to distinguish the effects of digitalization in the short and long run.