A Critical Reflection on DEA Studies in Tourism and Hospitality

Purpose
Despite the growing reliance on Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to evaluate the performance of tourism destinations and hospitality organizations, significant gaps in its application need to be addressed. Thus, the purpose of this study is to provide a critical overview of the application of DEA in tourism and hospitality research and to offer a list of actionable recommendations for researchers using this methodology.

Design/methodology/approach
This research systematically reviews DEA studies in tourism and hospitality based on a set of preidentified issues that are critical to DEA estimation. The final pool of papers included 162 studies published over the past 22 years (2003–2024).

Findings
The findings reveal that the majority of studies exhibit significant shortcomings regarding critical aspects of DEA application, ranging from the nature and number of inputs/outputs to model specification and orientation. Considering such findings and the characteristics of the tourism and hospitality industry, this paper proposes the DEA Suitability and Reporting Framework (DSRF) – a comprehensive checklist for ensuring transparency and rigor in DEA applications.

Practical implications
The study offers important implications for tourism and hospitality researchers. The paper presents researchers with suggestions for the correct application of DEA to derive meaningful conclusions. These suggestions are provided with a clear explanation of the importance of each procedure, along with the tourism and hospitality industry characteristics.

Originality/value
DEA, as a tool to estimate performance, continues to attract interest in the tourism and hospitality field. Thus, to ensure that future DEA studies are more robust, this critical reflection paper emphasizes and calls for greater transparency and consistency in the application of DEA.