Nowcasting Tourist Arrivals to Barbados - Just Google It!
2013 Central Bank of Barbados Annual Review Seminar, Barbados July 23-26 2013
14 Pages Posted: 28 May 2014 Last revised: 30 May 2014
Date Written: July 26, 2013
Abstract
This paper uses support vector regressions (SVRs) and Google search data to test whether observing internet habits can provide insights on trends in tourist arrivals to Barbados. We find evidence that Google Trends data may be used to (informally) pick up changing patterns and trends in tourist arrivals from the UK and Canada. But while graphical analysis show some similar patterns in the Google data and reported data on US arrivals, we find no evidence to suggest that Google data adds any significant information to what can be learned from an autoregressive-SVR.
Keywords: Nowcasting, tourism, Google, Barbados
JEL Classification: C53; L83
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation