Does Financial Inclusion Influence Tourism Performance? An Empirical Study in Indonesia

This article highlights the significant role that financial services play in enhancing economic growth, particularly in the context of tourism, which is a vital contributor to the Indonesian economy. The study reveals that while the tourism sector has shown resilience and recovery post-COVID-19, with domestic tourist trips surpassing pre-pandemic levels, there remains a critical gap in the literature regarding the interplay between tourism and financial inclusion. This research employs a quantitative methodology and employs a dynamic panel method to conduct an analysis of data gathered from 33 provinces between the years 2019 and 2023. In addition to concentrating on important factors like the utilisation of electronic money and the proportion of third-party funds that contribute to GDP, we will also be looking at regional macroeconomic data, namely per capita income and economic growth. The results of this research indicate that there is a considerable connection between the use of e-money, which is a component of the digital payment system, and the impact of macroeconomic factors on the expansion of domestic tourism.