Tourism Economics, 2010, 16 (2), 273–285 Productivity growth and sources of technological change in travel agencies LAURENT BOTTI GEREM, Institut d’Administration des Entreprises, Université de Perpignan Via Domitia, 52 avenue Paul Alduy, F-66860 Perpignan Cedex, France, and ERFI, Institut des Sciences de l’Entreprise de Montpellier, Université Montpellier I, Espace Richter – Bât B, CS 19519, F-34 960 Montpellier Cedex 2, France. E-mail: laurent.botti@univ-perp.fr. WALTER BRIEC GEREM, Institut d’Administration des Entreprises, and LAMPS, Faculté des Sciences Exactes et Expérimentales, Université de Perpignan Via Domitia, Perpignan, France. E-mail: briec@univ-perp.fr. NICOLAS PEYPOCH GEREM, Institut d’Administration des Entreprises, and LAMPS, Faculté des Sciences Exactes et Expérimentales, Université de Perpignan Via Domitia, Perpignan, France. E-mail: peypoch@univ-perp.fr. BERNARDIN SOLONANDRASANA GEREM, Institut d’Administration des Entreprises, Université de Perpignan Via Domitia, Perpignan, France. E-mail: solo@univ-perp.fr. This paper proposes a procedure for analysing tourism productivity. The procedure is based on the Luenberger productivity indicator for estimating and decomposing productivity change into efficiency change and technological change. The authors expand the procedure and further decompose the process of technological change to study the sources of bias within it. Therefore, a clearer and more enlightening view emerges of the productivity of travel agencies. The Portuguese travel agency sector is used as an application. Some managerial implications are developed. Keywords: travel agencies; Luenberger productivity indicator; biased technological change; Portugal The efficiency of firms is of interest to management specialists who want to make a pertinent diagnosis of the decision making units (DMU) they manage or advise. ‘Efficiency’ refers to the technological relationship between available