The relationship between tourism development and economic development has been long determined and measured. This paper primarily aims to measure this relationship in ASEAN countries in the 2001- 2009 period. The result indicates that tourism development has a positive effect on economic development, specifically increasing per capita income. | UEH-JED March 2012 | 11 Measuring Impacts of International Tourism Development on Economic Development: The Case of ASEAN Countries HUỲNH TRƯỜNG HUY*, NGUYỄN PHÚ SON**, NGÔ MỸ TRÂN* &VÕ HỒNG PHƯỢNG* ABSTRACT The relationship between tourism development and economic development has been long determined and measured. This paper primarily aims to measure this relationship in ASEAN countries in the 20012009 period. The result indicates that tourism development has a positive effect on economic development, specifically increasing per capita income. Countries with high urbanization levels show even stronger impacts of tourism on per capita income. The structural changes in ASEAN economies to industry and services has not only helped attain high economic growth, but also contributed to improving personal income. Keywords: international tourism development, economy, per capita income 1. INTRODUCTION Economic benefits are usually considered as one of the main motivations for governments of ASEAN countries (both developed and developing) to build development strategies for international tourism over the past decades. The importance of international tourism development to economic development was determined long ago (Ivanov & Webster, 2007; Lee & Chang, 2008; Sequeira & Maçãs, 2008). In fact, receipts from this sector not only contribute greatly to the GDP of a country, but also help improve the lives and income of local residents who are engaged in tourism activities and products (Brau et al., 2007). Although the world economy was greatly affected by recent economic crises which led to unemployment, decreased income, and increased prices, statistics of international tourism showed an upward trend. According to the UNWTO, international tourist arrivals were 935 million in 2010, up from 2009 and yielded receipts of US$ 920 billion, up . More details on the development trend of international tourism are provided in Table 1. * Master of Economics, Cần Thơ .
