Tourism’s impact on human development in Sub-Saharan Africa: a quantile regression approach and threshold analysis

Purpose This study aims to investigate the impact of tourism development and its drivers on human development (HD) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Design/methodology/approach This study leverages data from 38 SSA countries for 2019 and 2021 and applies quantile regressions and threshold analyses to account for distributional and regime-based heterogeneity. It further applies the Huber−White Sandwich Robust Estimator for robustness checks and correction of potential heteroskedasticity. Findings The findings reveal that tourism development significantly contributes to human development in SSA, with more substantial positive effects in lower HD countries. Furthermore, the threshold analyses reveal that tourism’s benefits to HD depend on the tourism sector’s policy coherence, investment efficiency and sustainability, highlighting areas for policy considerations. Originality/value The study’s originality lies in applying quantile regression and threshold analysis to provide deeper insights into how tourism development drivers shape HD in SSA.