The Determinants of Expenditures by Mexican Visitors to the Border Cities of Texas

Abstract

This study is unique in that it is the first, at least in the literature, to study systematically and analyse empirically the expenditures by Mexican visitors in the border cities of the USA. The authors investigate the expenditure behaviour of Mexican visitors in the Lower Rio Grande Valley (RGV) region of Texas. The paper makes the following contributions to the cross-border tourism literature. It examines the qualitative, socio-economic, and demographic factors that determine the Mexican visitors' expenditures in the border cities, concluding that the expenditure by Mexican visitors is a function of their income level, socio-economic and demographic variables. Specifically as income increases by 1% expenditure increases by 0.22%.