Abstract
1-Introduction
2-Theoretical framework
3-Method
4-Results
5-Conclusion
Acknowledgements
References
Abstract
Taxonomy as primarily empirical approach to the classification has become an important part of science in development of the diverse socio-economic processes. Furthermore, the topic of developing countries is currently a discussed topic at the international level. It is closely related to tourism as one of the sources of their potential growth. This paper aims to develop the taxonomy of the least developed countries based on the tourism economic impact analysis. We use the cluster analysis as a quantitative method for constructing taxonomies and analyze the countries based on the several different measures. As a result, taxonomy is developed based upon the outcomes of the cluster analysis.
Introduction
Tourism is one of the most important industries in the world in terms of generation of the foreign revenues and employment creation. In addition, it has potential to provide international economic growth and development. United Nations World Tourism Organization estimates that by 2030 the sector will reach 1,8 billion international tourist arrivals worldwide (UNWTO, 2015. The sector is an important driver of growth and also might play a role in the poverty reduction, especially within developing countries. One half of the least developed countries already consider tourism as one of the main drivers of their development. Position of the least developed countries in the international tourism has recently significantly changed, in particular in terms of their participation as importers or exporters. International arrivals in the group of the least developed countries increased between 1990 and 2009 by an average of 11 percent a year and this trend is very likely to continue. International organizations, governments and the national tourism organizations admit and recognize the unique potential of tourism to become a driver of sustainable economic development of the least developed countries (UNWTO,2015 UNDP). Classification is the general process of grouping entities by similarity and either can be unidimensional (based solely on a single dimension or characteristics) or multidimensional (based on a number of dimensions), where the dimensions are generally thought to be related or correlated. Taxonomy as primarily empirical approach to the classification has become an important part of science in development of the diverse socio-economic processes. Like classification, the term taxonomy can refer to both – the process and the end result (Bailey, 1994).