The Nexus between Tourism Industry and Unemployment Rate: The Case of South Asian Countries

Abstract

The study's main aim is to investigate the effects of the tourism industry and the unemployment rate in South Asian Countries. This study utilized the data from 2000-2022 of South Asian Countries namely; Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, based on the availability of data and employed the PMG, and D-H Granger Causality techniques for estimation. This study found that tourism receipts have no effect on the unemployment rate in the long run, while, an increase in tourism receipts will reduce the unemployment rate in the short run. Moreover, the causality analysis shows that no casualty exists between tourism receipt and the unemployment rate, Therefore, this study concluded that the tourism industry is more bifacial to influence the employment rate in the short run. This study recommended that the government focus on tourism to overcome the problem of unemployment.