Efficiency Evaluation in the Tourism Sector in Croatia and Serbia: Applications of Data Envelopment Analysis

Tourism is one of the most contributing economic sectors globally and is especially important for developing economies, due to its contribution to GDP, creation of new jobs and its impact on economic development. The tourism sector has gained a lot of attention from academia and governments due to its strategic position in the economy. Its efficiency and performance are closely researched and analysed. One of the leading nonparametric methodologies that have been often used to evaluate relative efficiency of homogeneous entities is the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The main goal of this chapter is to identify, present and explore the applications of DEA in different aspects of Croatian and Serbian tourism. Other goals are to present and analyse the findings of the twelve surveyed papers and to highlight the benefits and limitations of the DEA methodology. Additionally, this research represents an incentive and an inspiration to other academic members and researchers to apply the DEA methodology in their future studies when analysing and investigating efficiency in the tourism sector, as well as any other economic sector.