Exploring the Nexus among Tourism, Information Communication Technology and Economic Growth: A Case Study of Nigeria

Abstract

The research investigates the relationship between economic growth and tourism as well as information and communications technology (ICT) between 1995 and 2021. Using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) process and an enhanced Solow framework for cointegration analysis; we examine how these variables interact. The findings demonstrate that, when all three are forced to depend on one another, economic growth, foreign tourism receipts—which act as a stand-in for tourism—and mobile cellular subscriptions—which indicate the pervasiveness of ICT—all display cointegration. At the 1% level, both ICT and tourism have long-term statistically significant effects. ICT and tourism have short-run coefficients of 0.006 and 0.03 respectively. Furthermore, at the 1% level, the interaction term (LNTOUR*MCS) of tourism receipts and ICT is associated with a long-run coefficient (0.148) that indicates a positive and statistically significant effect on economic growth. This finding highlights the importance of fostering the mutually beneficial interaction between the development of technology and the growth of the tourist industry as key factors in Nigeria's economic prosperity.