The volatility spillover effect of macroeconomic indicators on inbound tourism in India

Purpose This study aims to determine the mutual association between the volatility of macroeconomic indicators (MIs) and India's tourism demand.Design/methodology/approach Bivariate generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (GARCH) models are applied to estimate the volatility spillover effect (VSE) from one market to another. Compared to the other methods, bivariate GARCH has wide acceptance for estimating the VSE. The monthly MIs and tourism demand data (2012-2021) are gathered for empirical analysis.Findings The evidence of the growth-led tourism (GLT) demand is seen. In the short term, tourism-led growth (TLG) is indicated. However, this TLG does not sustain itself in the long run. There is significant evidence in favour of the VSE from the MIs to the tourism demand ensuring GLT in India.Practical implications The main implication of the current study is to ignore the short-term influence of tourism demand on the economy because it does not sustain itself in the long run. However, the long-term influence of macroeconomic indicators on tourism demand should be seen with caution. Hedging, if possible, may be considered to protect the tourism sector's interests from adverse economic fallouts.Originality/value There is a lack of studies on the volatility (especially on the VSE) between MIs and tourism demand. Hence, this study fills the research gap and presents a novel and unique contribution to the extent of the knowledge body on the topic and significantly contributes.