The COVID-19 multiplier effects of tourism on the German and Spanish economies

Based on a multisectoral model of single production and using data from the input–output tables, this paper estimates the COVID-19 tourism multiplier effects on output, employment and trade balance of the German and Spanish economies. It is found that the decrease of international travel receipts recorded in the year 2020 correspond to a decrease in GDP of about 0.58% in the German economy and a decrease in GDP of about 4.54% in the Spanish economy. The evaluation of the results reveals that the higher observed recession in the Spanish economy than in the German economy can be attributed to the relatively stronger dependency of the former on the highly vulnerable in the pandemic tourism industry.