How Is Economic Growth Impacted by the Neighbours and the Past? Can Tourism Be an Alternative Engine of Economic Growth?

ABSTRACT This research aims to bring additional added value for the sustainable economic growth, namely how the past events and the neighbouring countries impact the worldwide economic dynamics and consequently the competitiveness conditions. Special emphasis was placed on tourism, given its global dynamics and its importance to the economy of some countries. To achieve these objectives, data from the World Bank was considered. The period analysed was from 2016 to 2023, considering data from 2015 to 2023 to calculate growth rates for employment and output (gross domestic product). This statistical information was assessed considering the developments associated with the Kaldor laws and the spatial autocorrelation approaches. The results highlight that the impacts of recent international events remain for the subsequent years and each country is influenced by the conjunctures of the neighbours. On the other hand, the tourism sector is of major importance to the world's economic sustainability, but its impact depends on the specifics of each circumstance and location. These are interesting insights to support policymakers in designing policies that are more adjusted to the current context, where the impacts of the past and of neighbouring countries cannot be ignored. On the other hand, the idea of tourism as an alternative driver of economic growth should be considered on a case‐by‐case basis. The originality of this study lies in the use of extended Keynesian cross‐section models with variables related to spatial effects and tourism to analyse the contexts associated with COVID‐19.