Does world heritage list really induce more tourists? Evidence from Macau

It is commonly believed that being listed on the World Heritage List (WHL) results in attracting more tourists. However, this assumption has not been generally subject to rigorous econometric approach in the existing literature. To fill this gap, we assess the impact of the accreditation World Heritage status on the “Historic Centre of Macau” in 2005 on visitor numbers to the territory to identify the real effect of WHL on fostering tourism. In doing so, because of the policy restrictions on the mainland Chinese tourists, such tourists have been excluded from the analysis. The empirical results indicate that there is no significant effect of WHL on promoting tourism other than possibly a short-run tourism-enhancing impact. Notably, this effect is particularly relevant to Asian tourists. This paper discusses these results in the wider context of econometric analyses of tourism.

► We assess the impact of the accreditation World Heritage status on tourist arrivals.
► Using the case of “Historic Centre of Macau” in 2005 to conduct empirical analysis.
► Empirical results indicate a short-run tourism-enhancing impact brought about by WHL.
► Notably, this effect is particularly relevant to Asian tourists.