Empirical Analysis of Financial Contributions of Tourism to the Gross Domestic Product of Nigeria

This study evaluated the financial contributions of tourism to the gross domestic product of Nigeria from 2000-2015. To achieve the study objectives, ex-post facto research design was adopted and secondary data were collected. Data collected were analyzed using ordinary least square multiple regression technique. This was aimed at determining the cause-effect relationship between financial contributions of Tourism Sector to gross domestic product of Nigeria within the period under review. Results obtained from the analysis showed that there is a significant relationship between financial contributions of Tourism Sector to gross domestic product of Nigeria. A further analysis on contributions of other related sectors such as Health Sector, Transportation Sector, etc. yielded a non-significant relationship. Arising from the above results and conclusion, it was recommended amongst others that, in order to improve on the yield of the value of gross domestic product of Nigeria, government should develop Tourism Sector and other related sectors mentioned above. The major contribution of the work is therefore the discovery made concerning the course effect relationship between financial contributions of other related sectors to the growth of gross domestic product which normally should be positive, but was discovered to be negative based on empirical result of this work. Also the growth in tourism which normally should have had a significant relationship with growth in gross domestic product was discovered to be non-significant. It is therefore suggested that the tourism sector be accorded more attention in view of the volatility associated with revenue from petroleum products. Keywords: Tourism growth, Gross domestic product, Hospitality industries, Tourist, Tourist destination, Tourism expenditur