The need for empirical data on tour production costs

Abstract

Tourism is a commercial industry as well as an aspect of human beha-vior. The core of the tourism industry consists of individual businesses which must remain profi table in order to con���� nue opera���� ng. The pro-fi tability of any business depends on its produc���� on costs as well as its sales revenues. Data on produc���� on costs thus form one key component in analyzing compe���� ���� ve commercial enterprises in tourism, as in other in-dustry sectors. The ways in which the tourism industry responds to chan-ges in markets or government policies, depend on the rela���� ve produc���� on costs of individual compe���� ng tourism enterprises.