Abstract:
This paper aims to demonstrate the potential of quantitative research synthesis, i.e. meta-analysis, as a methodology for comparative and explorative research, with a particular view on tourism research. The attention is focused on regional tourist multipliers which measure the effects of tourist expenditure on the economy of a region. On the basis of a sample of studies on tourist multipliers, differences among tourist income multipliers are ex post examined. The preliminaries of this investigation are discussed in order to show some important issues a meta-analyst is confronted with. Besides, the results of the comparative analysis of previous studies are transferred to the Greek island of Lesvos. This area was estimated to have an average tourist income multiplier falling in between 0.55 and 0.67.