Marcussen (2011a) distinguished between the vital and the not-so-vital determinants of micro-level tourism expenditure. Arguably, the lessons learned from Marcussen's study, combined with best practice in recent econometric modelling, have set a new higher standard for future research on this topic. Against this background, this paper gives practical advice on how to improve the modelling of micro-level tourism expenditure in the future. Three issues are discussed: (a) the choice of independent variables; (b) the choice of functional form; and (c) the choice of estimation technique. Empirical illustrations are provided.
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