Blue Economy and Tourism, a European Union Perspective on Key Drivers and Policy Steps

This thesis aims to examine what drives the arrival of tourists over the period 2000-2020, within fourteen European Union countries, which are considered top coastal and maritime tourism destinations. Pooled OLS Model is employed, which is complemented by diagnostic tests for normality, stationarity, serial correlation and heteroskedasticity. The study reveals that two of the regressors, gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) and internet users, used as proxies for infrastructure investments and digital connectivity respectively, have a positive significant impact on tourists’ arrivals. This indicates that the boost in investments and digital connectivity contributes to tourists’ arrivals in the region. Inflation has a negative significant impact on tourist arrivals, showing that higher prices make these places less affordable. CO₂ emissions and trade openness were found to have no impact and given that the countries taken into study are high tourism destinations, tourists aren’t influenced by the CO₂ emissions or trade openness, but tourists prioritize attractions, affordability and infrastructure. While mobile cellular subscriptions, used as a proxy for digital connectivity, also shows no significant impact, because internet users already capture most of the effect of digital connectivity. Additionally, this study examines important EU policies such as the "Blue Growth Strategy," "European Strategy for Coastal and Maritime Tourism," and "Sustainable Blue Economy Strategy" to complete empirical analysis. The policies emphasize how crucial digital connectivity and investments are to attract tourists. As well as highlighting the necessity of inflation policies aimed at price stability, the results indicate a potential need for further investments in infrastructure and policies that preserve affordability while accelerating the transition to ecologically sustainable tourism may be required.