Tourism and Development Aid and the Socio-Economic Development Level of Geographically Disadvantaged and Least Developed Countries

The aim of the article is to analyse the significance of the tourist product export and development aid, as well as the level of socio-economic development in 83 countries of the Global South. These countries have been grouped due to geographical features that significantly inhibit socio-economic development: 1) small island developing states, and 2) land-locked developing countries. These countries have been identified for the purposes of the article as countries with geographical disadvantage. In addition, a group of the least developed countries was distinguished. The significance of the tourist product export was measured by the tourism export index (WEPTG) constructed for the needs of the study. The degree of importance of development assistance (aid) was measured by the development aid in the economy (WPRG). The level of socio-economic level was assessed with the use of Human Development Index (HDI) and Gross National Income (GNI) per capita. The analysis shows that economies with high WEPTG were on the highest economic development level. Further analysis assets that "tourism monoculture" is significant only in small island developing states but "aid monoculture" occurs in some small states and in countries with bigger development opportunities. The research results shows that tourism specialisation in most of the analysed countries have positive aspects.