Analysis of travel and tourism competitiveness index in middle-east countries

The purpose of this research is to analyze tourism competitiveness in middle-east countries by using travel and tourism competitiveness index published in the report of the world economic forum. The used model is performed to analyze Promethee model and comparative analysis on the basis of data in 2015 and 2017. The analysis results showed that although Egypt, Iran, Kuwait, Lebanon and yamen improved their situation in comparison to 2015, they couldn’t improve their own competition power in comparison to other middle-east countries, and they were located in the group of countries with lower tourism competitiveness.     

Measuring price elasticities of demand for outbound tourism using competitiveness indices

The real exchange rate (REX) has long been used as the proxy for prices in tourism demand models. However it has limitations, particularly when it comes to models of outbound tourism. As an alternative, a price competitiveness index (PCI) is developed and used as a proxy for prices in a model of outbound tourism from Australia. Results obtained show that while REX is statistically insignificant and yields a price elasticity of −0.002, PCI is significant and generates a price elasticity of −1.07. The results obtained show that PCI outperforms REX as the preferred price variable in modelling outbound demand on both theoretic and empirical grounds. Furthermore, this index can be used to monitor the inter-temporal competitiveness of a destination.     

基于因素分析的区域旅游竞争力评价模型研究

竞争力评价是近年学术研究的热点.本文首先回顾了我国区域旅游竞争力评价的相关研究,然后从分析区域旅游竞争力的影响因素入手,构建一个评价区域旅游竞争力的多层次指标体系,并利用因子分析法对指标体系进行定量分析,建立相应的综合评价模型.     

Destination competitiveness and resident well-being

The paper presents arguments for integrating resident wellbeing outcomes into destination competitiveness analysis. Despite increasing acknowledgment that resident well-being is the primary objective of achieving destination competitiveness, the established frameworks fail to accord it a central role in performance assessment. A well-being index is proposed for this purpose. Constructing this index will necessitate the development of well-being measures to assess destination competitiveness in addition to the standard destination performance indicators. Several important challenges for tourism stakeholders are identified. Expected outcomes of the discussion include greater insight into the sources and goals of destination competitiveness, appreciation of the importance of resident well-being in destination competitiveness analysis, and the implications of this for analysis and policy making.     

The evaluation of tourism destination competitiveness by TOPSIS & information entropy – A case in the Yangtze River Delta of China

Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) was proposed by Hwang and Yoon as a multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) method, which identifies solutions from a finite set of alternatives. TOPSIS is based on the concept that the chosen alternative should have the shortest distance from the positive ideal solution (PIS) and the farthest distance from the negative ideal solution (NIS). In this study, the method was applied to evaluate the tourism destination competitiveness (TDC) of the Yangtze River Delta in China. This empirical study was based on a two-step procedure. The first procedure consisted of three hierarchies, four aspects and 35 evaluation indices, which were weighted by the information entropy weight (IEW). Secondly, the TOPSIS method was applied to the ranking analysis. This gave the most important index for each aspect by IEW. It also provided the ranking for 16 cities in the Yangtze River Delta based on four aspects, as well as the final overall ranking among them. Finally, the tactics and means for the cities to improve their tourism competitiveness were discussed. The results showed that TOPSIS & IEW can be implemented as an effective method in TDC evaluation.     

Regional tourism competitiveness using the PROMETHEE approach

The competitiveness of tourism destinations is a key issue because it enables destinations to know their position with regard to their competitors. The aim of this paper is threefold: (1) to address the measurement of the competitiveness of tourism destinations at the regional level, (2) to show the suitability of using multi-criteria techniques to measure competitiveness, and (3) to apply the PROMETHEE and GAIA methods within a competitiveness study of eight tourist destinations located in the Northern Region of Portugal. The Metropolitan Area of Porto is the first in the ranking, followed by Cávado and Douro. The results of such an analysis show the comparative strengths and weaknesses of destinations, and allow them to identify their true competitors as well as those other destinations that are most similar to them.     

Price competitiveness of tourism packages to Australia: Beyond the “Big Mac” index

One issue facing any country or region concerns its price competitiveness as a package tour destination. One method of measuring this is to use what in other contexts has been referred to as the Big Mac approach. The “Big Mac” is a simple product with ingredients in fixed proportions, whereas the tourism product is a very complex one comprising different components depending on tourist expenditure patterns. There is no equivalent tourism product offered across countries, as the nature of the product is tailored to the origin market, expenditure levels and the length of the trip involved. The key issue is that of how to standardize the products being compared, so as to determine their relative price competitiveness. A method of constructing price competitiveness indexes, developed by the authors, can be applied to develop measures of the price competitiveness of different tour packages. This paper has three aims: To set down the essence of the preferred approach to measuring price competitiveness, noting its advantages and limitations; to employ this approach to construct price competitiveness indexes for package tours to Australia from Japan and the USA; and to indicate areas for farther research into the price competitiveness of package tourism worldwide.     

The effect of hard infrastructure on perceived destination competitiveness: The moderating impact of mobile technology

Hard infrastructure is an important topic to research because of its importance to perceived destination competitiveness. Besides, tourism suppliers who adopt mobile technology can improve visitors' trip experiences. Moreover, Malaysia, is experiencing declined destination competitiveness ranking and poor hard infrastructure development in Sarawak. The primary goal of this research is to examine the hard infrastructures as determinants of perceived destination competitiveness and the moderating effect of mobile technology from the visitor's perspective. A total of 190 valid data were collected for further analysis. The data were analyzed using PLS-SEM approach. The result revealed that transportation and accommodation have a significant relationship with perceived destination competitiveness. Additionally, the relationship between telecommunication infrastructure and perceived destination competitiveness is moderated by mobile technology. The current study's findings aided scholars and practitioners by providing useful data backed up by empirical evidence on the moderating effect of mobile technology and the direct relationship between infrastructure and perceived destination competitiveness.     

俄罗斯环贝加尔湖滑雪旅游区竞争力评价研究

俄罗斯是冰雪运动大国,滑雪旅游活动在俄罗斯拥有悠久的历史。俄罗斯的环贝加尔湖地域区位优势明显,自然资源丰富多样,地貌类型独特,滑雪旅游已经成为该区域冬季最具吸引力的旅游项目。本文以俄罗斯环贝加尔湖五大滑雪旅游区为研究对象,建立冰雪旅游区综合竞争力评价指标体系及定量评估模型,科学评估环贝加尔湖冰雪旅游区综合竞争力水平。研究发现：（1）索博利纳亚（Соболиная）滑雪旅游区的竞争力优良,比奇亚（Бычья）和伊斯特兰（Истлэнд）滑雪旅游区竞争力中等,达万（Даван）和马迈（Мамай）滑雪旅游区竞争力薄弱,区域自然资源和基础设施建设是影响综合竞争力评价水平的关键要素;（2）根据评估结果提出以索博利纳亚滑雪旅游区为核心,打造国际绿色、低碳冰雪旅游示范区及中蒙俄经济走廊国际冰雪旅游特区等发展对策。研究结论可为环贝加尔湖冰雪旅游产业综合竞争力提升和区域冰雪旅游高质量发展提供决策依据,为中国冰雪旅游发展模式完善和中俄冰雪旅游产业跨境国际合作提供借鉴参考和科技支撑。     

Determinants of tourism destination competitiveness in the countries most visited by international tourists: Proposal of a synthetic index

Tourism destination competitiveness is a multidimensional concept that is widely studied in the academic literature, but multiple factors make its measurement a difficult task. In this article, we design a synthetic index to rank the 80 countries that attract the majority of international tourists by level of tourism competitiveness. In order to do this, we use all of the simple variables included in the 2017 Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index, proposing a new methodology for the construction of this synthetic index, which it solves the problems of aggregation of variables expressed in different measures, arbitrary weighting and duplicity of information; issues that remain unresolved by the TTCI. Likewise, we analyse the most influential dimensions in tourism competitiveness. Air transport infrastructures, cultural resources and ICT readiness are the key dimensions that explain the main disparities.     

Evaluation of hotel brand competitiveness based on hotel features ratings

Understanding the competitiveness of hotel brands is important for hotel managers to shape their brands and initiate effective marketing strategies and business developments. However, evaluating hotel brand competitiveness is challenging due to the complexity of information involved. A hotel brand often comprises many hotels with different performances. Hotel brands are also evaluated against multiple hotel features, thereby making the application of traditional evaluation techniques impractical. This paper introduces a novel technique for automatically evaluating the competitiveness of hotel brands based on probability distribution and earth mover’s distance. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed method by conducting a case study that involves major hotel brands in Hong Kong. The proposed method can be applied in various contexts and can help researchers and managers evaluate the competitiveness of hotels as well as other branded products in the hospitality and tourism sectors.     

An Extended Gravity Model: Applying Destination Competitiveness

Due to the substantial growth of tourism, various studies have employed different forms of gravity models. However, previous models had limitations in terms of generalizing their results. This is primarily due to their focus on specific regions or variables for special events or components of tourism. Thus, the primary objective of this study was to present an extended gravity model that can more generally explain tourism flows. This study adopted components of destination competitiveness as complementary variables and a panel data framework to include the cross-sectional and time effects in the model. The result showed that the proposed model had greater explanatory power than traditional gravity models. Additionally, along with gravity variables, destination competitiveness components, such as natural and cultural resources, general and tourism infrastructure, price competitiveness, and openness, had significant effects on tourism flows. Further discussion and implications are provided in the main body of this paper.     

The role of individual entrepreneurs in the development of competitiveness for a rural tourism destination – A case study

The aim of this case study is to increase our understanding of the role of entrepreneurs in enhancing the competitiveness of a rural tourism destination. A literature review of the research on destination competitiveness with a focus on the roles of different stakeholders is first presented, followed by a narrative about rural tourism development, the competitiveness of rural destinations and the role of entrepreneurs in establishing successful destinations. The data consists of six case studies and nine semi-structured interviews among tourism entrepreneurs and managers at a rural tourism destination in Finland. The findings challenge the prevailing DMO dominated approach to destination competitiveness development, and call for the acknowledgment of collaboration between small tourism enterprises in the enhancement of rural destinations. Municipalities have a crucial role as facilitators of the entrepreneurial environment, but without innovative, committed, and risk-taking entrepreneurs no destination will flourish.     

多元化类型与旅游企业价值关系研究

文章以2003~2010年17家旅游上市公司为研究对象,采用关联比例作为多元化类型的代理变量衡量相关多元化程度,以资产收益率衡量企业价值,运用面板数据回归和二阶段最小二乘法,探讨哪种多元化类型更有利于促进旅游企业价值,以及哪些因素影响旅游企业多元化类型的决策选择。实证表明:股权集中度、企业价值对旅游企业相关多元化具有显著正向影响,国有股比例、资源可转移性、公司规模和公司年龄对旅游企业相关多元化具有显著负向影响;在外生性视角下,相关多元化对旅游企业价值具有正向影响,存在2.6%的相关多元化溢价效应;在内生性视角下,相关多元化对旅游企业价值的正向促进作用进一步提升,相关多元化溢价效应为9.7%。     

Hotel chain affiliation as an environmental performance strategy for luxury hotels

Stakeholders are increasingly aware of the potential of environmental performance to benefit their health; however, there is a paucity of sustainability studies addressing the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance and the brand equity of hotel chains. Unlike traditional economics that treat undesired outputs such as carbon emissions as costless, this research presents an accurate, concise and clear empirical examination of hotel chain affiliation strategy through the Malmquist-Luenberger index to measure the brand competitiveness of the strategy while considering carbon emissions reduction using objective official panel data from Taiwan. The findings reveal that a group of hotel chains has a significantly higher average energy efficiency and branding value than those of a group of independent operators when holistic carbon emissions reduction is considered. Thus, this study encourages stakeholders to promote green hotel policies to independent hotel operators to achieve a higher brand value with lower carbon emissions and to adopt greater use of business intelligence to assist the decision-making of hotel operators in conformity with the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).     

Tourist Motives and Destination Competitiveness: A Gap Analysis Perspective

This study explores the use of gap analysis in examining the demand-side and supply-side perceptions of international tourists’ motives for visiting Botswana, along with Botswana’s competitiveness as a tourist destination. Statistically significant negative gaps between tourists and tourism providers’ perceptions mean that further understanding of tourists by providers is necessary to enhance the destination’s competitiveness. The analysis of findings was based on 14 “pull” motivations adapted from Kozak (2002) and 104 destination competitiveness measures, some of which were adapted from Omerzel (2006). Factor analysis, reliability analysis, and a series of independent t-tests were used to analyze the data. Study results indicate that tourists visit Botswana mainly for pleasure seeking rather than culture. The study further reveals that Botswana’s competitiveness as a destination is average. Furthermore, the study found statistically significant differences between tourists and tourism providers on all of the “push” factors and nine of the 15 destination competitiveness factors. In order for Botswana to be globally competitive, there is need for further improvement with a view to match international tourists’ expectations. Particular attention should be directed at improving the way the destination is managed. Further developments should be made on created resources, safety, demand conditions, historical and cultural heritage resources, organized excursions, and cleanliness.     

区域国际旅行社业竞争力评价方法与实证分析

区域国际旅行社业竞争力的评价涉及到多个指标,评价方法的选择对评价结果起重要作用.该文基于竞争力影响因素的基本理论及指标数据的可获取性,选择劳动生产率、市场占有率、利润率、成本作为国际旅行社竞争力的评价指标,以我国31个省级区域(不合港、澳、台地区)为研究对象,检验了3种评价方法:SAW法、WP法、TOPSIS法的有效性,分析了评价结果对指标权重的敏感性.最后,对我国31个省份的国际旅行社业竞争力进行了评价与分类.     

Determining factors in the choice of prices of tourist rental accommodation. New evidence using the quantile regression approach

The disruption in destinations caused by the emergence of new forms of tourist distribution within the framework of the sharing economy gives rise to new challenges in terms of competitiveness, regulation and even investment. This article studies the determining factors that influence consumer decisions in the choice of rental accommodation using both ordinary least square models (OLS) and quantile regression (QR) estimation techniques. The results show the greater interpretative capacity of the QR, which reveals certain overlooked patterns of the relationship between some of the characteristics of the properties, the hosts or the socioeconomic environment and the price paid by the users. These results can facilitate decision making in the destinations by companies, society and the public sector.     

Tourists,black markets and regional development in West Africa

Currency brought into West Africa by tourists is strong support for black market operations. The positive as well as the negative effects of illicit currency exchanges are evaluated for their social and economic significance for the region. The black market is not only an index of economic conditions, but is important for individual and group survival and the maintenance of social structure in countries having long term weakened economies. Anthroplogical data provides Third World planners a broadened base for decisions dealing with the role of tourism in regional development.     

An Investigation of the Relationship Between Destination Branding and Destination Competitiveness

Empirical research focusing on the relationship between destination branding and destination competitiveness has so far been lacking. Even though destination brand is partially incorporated into the two most prominent theoretical models of destination competitiveness, there is still a need for understanding the role that destination branding plays in achieving destination competitiveness. For this reason, this study proposes a theory-based research instrument that joins the branding process implementation index and competitiveness measured by customer satisfaction. The proposed instrument is tested in the context of Croatian coastal destinations. The results confirm that a well-implemented destination branding process increases destination competitiveness.