This material is all about sustainable tourism which is an interesting course in the travel industry.

1.  The notion of destination competitiveness must
be consistent with the notion of competitiveness
in the international economics and international
business literature.
 Competitiveness is both a relative concept (ie.
compared to what?) and is multi-dimensional (ie.
what are the salient attributes or qualities of
competitiveness

2.  Destination competitiveness would appear to be
linked to the ability of a destination to deliver
goods and services that perform better than other
destinations on those aspects of the tourism
experience considered to be important by tourists.
 Tourism competitiveness is a general concept that
encompasses price differentials coupled with
exchange rate movements, productivity levels of
various components of the tourist industry and
qualitative factors affecting the attractiveness or
otherwise of a destination

3.  Competitiveness has also been defined as ---the
ability of a destination to maintain its market
position and share and/or to improve upon them
through time .
 Defines competitiveness as the destinations
ability to create and integrate value-added
products that sustain its resources while
maintaining market position relative to
competitors.

4. According to Ritchie and Crouch has the ability :
 To increase tourism expenditure,
 To increasingly attract visitors
 While providing them with satisfying memorable
experiences and to do so in a profitable way,
 While enhancing the well-being of destination
residents and
 Preserving the natural capital of the destination for
future generations

5.  PORTERS’ COMPETITIVE STRATEGY
 Why firms based in a particular nation are able
to compete successfully against foreign rivals in
particular industries?
 PORTER DISTINGUISHES BETWEEN:
 The activities of individual firms in seeking
success in global industries (the five competitive
forces; generic strategies)

6.  The determinants of national competitive
advantage .
 Taking offensive or defensive actions to create
a defendable position in an industry, to cope
successfully with the five competitive forces
and thereby yield a superior return on
investment for a firm.

7.  Firms have discovered many different
approaches to this end; best strategy for a
given firm is a unique construction reflecting
its particular circumstances
 At the broadest level: three generic strategies
(can be used singly or in combination)

8. SUPPLIERS buyers
POTENTIAL
ENTRANTS
Rivalry among
existing firms
Substitutes

9.  Barriers
–economies of scale
–product differentiation (brand, customer loyalties)
–capital requirements
–switching costs( e.g. for the buyer)
–access to distribution channels
–government policy (e.g. limitations new ski areas)
• Reaction of existing competitors
–retaliation
–experience

10.  Numerous or Equally Balanced Competitors
 Slow Sector Growth
• High Fixed Costs (Eg Tourism)
• Lack Of Differentiation
• High Strategic Stake ( To Be Successful In
One Market)
• High Exit Barriers

11.  All firms in an industry are competing, in a
broad sense, with industries producing
substitute products
 Substitutes limit the potential returns of an
industry by placing a ceiling on the prices firms
in the industry can profitably charge
 Tourism: eg. domestic tourism, recreational
activities at home

12. a buyer group is powerful if:
 it purchases large volumes relative to seller
sales ( e.g. to hotel.
 the products it purchases from the industry
represent a significant fraction of the buyer’s
costs or purchases ( hotel costs for a to) –the
products it purchases from the industry are
standard or undifferentiated (e.g. hotel rooms)
 it earns low profits

13.  A SUPPLIER GROUP IS POWERFUL IF:
– it is dominated by a few companies and is more
concentrated than the industry it sells to
– the industry (e.g. to) is not an important customer
of the supplier group ( air carrier) – the suppliers
group’s products are differentiated
– the suppliers’ product is an important input to the
buyer’s business (e.g. flight costs for a to)
– the supplier group poses a credible threat of
forward integration

14.  an effective competitive strategy takes
offensive or defensive action in order to create a
defendable position against the five
competitive forces. how?
 positioning (e.g. low cost) – improving the firm’s
relative position ( e.g. to raise brand
identification, vertical integration) –
diversification

15.  In coping with the five c.f. there are three
potentially successful generic strategic
approaches to outperforming other firms in our
industry
 Firms Succeed If They Possess Sustainable
CompetitiveAdvantages. BasicTypes Are:
 lower cost
 – differentiation
 – scope or the breath of a firm’s target within its
industry: product varieties/distribution
channel/segmentation/geographic areas

16.  COST LEADERSHIP
 lower cost than the competitor
• price reductions are achieved through cost
reductions
 • requirements: – large market share
 – aggressive price policy
– good infrastructure and organization
 examples: thomson holidays; benidorm

17.  perceived as being unique along some
dimensions or attributes that are widely
valued (premium price)
 • advantages: – loyalty/less price sensitivity
 • how to differentiate? – design/brand
/costomer service/dealer network
 • example hotel – functional utility or benefit –
symbolic utility( e.g. identification with a
group) – experience utility( e.g. friendliness)

18.  Concentration On One Or More Markets
Segments - Buyer Group •To Be A “ Big Fish
In A Small Pond”
 BASED ON:
 cost leadership –product differentiation (to
meet the needs of the particular target)

19.  new tourism changes the rules of the game and
calls for new strategies to ensure competitive
success
 • innovation - introduction of new products- is
far more important than low cost,
differentiation or focus.
 • competitive strategies for industry players –
they have to follow a number of principles to
compete successfully
 • strategies for tourism destinations

20.  Put Consumers First
 • Be A Leader In Quality
 • Develop Radical Innovations
 • StrengthenYour Strategic Position

21. LINK MARKETING WITH PRODUCT
DEVELOPMENT :
 UnderstandThe Consumer
 Be Honest/DeliverWhat Is Promised
 Built Success From Repeat Business
SATISFYTHE CONSUMER
 be flexible ( sandals policy)
 provide the experience consumers want
 deliver ‘ high-touch’ services

22.  WHAT IS HOLISTIC APPROACH?
 the holiday experience is not simply the bed
nights at the hotel
 –influence the image and development of the
entire destination (e.g. dirty streets)
 –control service delivery at all levels
 • customs and immigration
 • tours & attractions
 • police
 • harassment etc

23.  DEVELOP HUMAN RESOURCES
 develop creative recruitment and personal
management
 invest in education training/motivate/reward
IMPROVE PROCESSES CONTINUALL
 empower the front line
 –rely on feedback from the frontline to refine
production.

24.  free human resources for ‘high touch’ services
develop radical innovations
• don’t be afraid of new idea
– explore new markets
– provide new services
– develop new processes

25.  In general, the competitive performance of
organisations is defined from the input and output
side.
 The input measure is based on physical and
human capital endowment and research and
development expenses.
 The output side covers profitability, market share,
productivity, growth and so on .

26.  Based on this grouping, the input side of
destination competitiveness could be physical
sources (tourist facilities, infrastructure and
environment), human capital endowment
(services), and marketing and promotion
expenses.
 The output side is market share both in the
number of arrivals and the amount of tourism
receipts, productivity and so on

27.  As Pearce (1997) implies, a competitive
analysis refers to comparative studies.
Therefore, destination competitiveness can be
evaluated both quantitatively and qualitatively.
 Quantitative performance of a destination can
be measured by looking at numbers such as
annual numbers of tourist arrivals, amount of
annual tourism receipts, level of expenditure per
tourist, length of overnight stays.

28.  Battles could be both internal and external
barriers affecting the success of the
organisation or the destination and its
competitiveness in the marketplace. These
factors are explained in detail in the following
section.

29.  The socio-economic and socio-demographic
profiles of tourism demand in potential
markets are a determinant for affecting the
choice to vacation and its direction towards
particular destinations.
 The level of age, income, occupation, time,
whom to travel with and personality play a
significant role in determining destination
choice process .

30.  Consumers will be likely to choose destinations
where any or all of these variables are better
matched with what the destination offers.
 Since every destination has a different product to
attract consumers from different markets, it
unlikely to say that all destinations are able to
compete for all market segments

31.  How close a destination is to the tourist
markets is another determination of
destination competitiveness .
 Research findings revealed that there is a
reverse relationship between perceived
distance and intention to visit and revisit a
destination.


32.  However, the distance sometimes may not
always be important in affecting the flow of
tourism demand to any destination.

33.  By classifying the psychology of consumers in
tourism under two headings such as
'allocentric' (those who have active
personality) and 'psychocentric' (those who
have passive personality).
 Plog (1974) suggested that such typology
could be effective in understanding why
destinations fall or rise in popularity.

34.  Understanding what a satisfied customer
needs and wants is the basic ingredient of a
recipe in arriving at successful marketing and
improving competitive advantage .
 Attention is drawn to the importance of tourist
perceptions in successful destination
marketing since they influence the choice of a
destination the consumption of goods and
services while on holiday and the decision to
return .

35.  Where package tours are concerned, the extent to
which a destination can attract the interest of tour
operators and how it can be included in their
brochures will be effective in reaching the market.
 Tour operators feel themselves to be ahead of
tourist destinations as they, as international
suppliers and / or retailers, have to search for
better products, applications or destinations for
meeting consumer requirements and following
changes in their wants and needs.

36.  The image of the product (destination) is primarily
influenced by tour operators’ promotional activities
in the tourist generating country.
 Depending on the volume of income or the
appearance of any problem, tour operators are
likely to switch their customers to alternative
resorts / destinations .
 Tour operators consider themselves to be
responsible for monitoring the situation in a
destination; they offer holidays to alternative
destinations if any threat is posed to their
customers.

37.  The are a lot models proposed, tested and validated
to measure the competitiveness of a given
destinations.
 But it is claimed that none of those models are
comprehensive enough to demonstrate the holistic
approaches of destination competitiveness.

38.  The general conceptual model of destination
competitiveness developed by Crouch and
Ritchie (1999).
 Well-known conceptual model of destination
competitiveness in tourism literature and has
been the starting point for many other research
studies about destination competitiveness.
 The model distinguishes 36 attributes of
competitiveness classified into five key factors.

39.  The model outlines a series of factors that play
a determining role in the competitiveness of a
tourist destination.

40.  Physiography and Climate
 Culture and History
 Market Ties
 Mix of Activities
 Special Events
 Entertainment
 Superstructure

41.  Infrastructure
 Accessibility
 Facilitating
 Resources
 Hospitality
 Enterprise

42.  Marketing
 Finance andVenture
 CapitalOrganisation
 Human Resource Development
Information/Research
 Quality of Service
 Visitor Management
 Resource Stewardship

43.  System definition
 Philosophy
 Vision
 Audit
 Positioning
 Development
 Competitive/collaborative analysis
 Monitoring & evaluation

44.  Competitive (micro) Environment
 Global (macro) Environment

45.  Location
 Interdependencies
 Safety/security
 Awareness/image/brand
 Cost/value

46.  The integrated model includes some types of
determinants missing from theCrouchRitchie
model.
 The integrated model explicitly recognizes
Demand Conditions as an important determinant
of destination competitiveness.
 The integrated model explicitly recognizes that
destination competitiveness is not an ultimate end
of policy making but is an intermediate goal
toward the objective of regional or national
economic prosperity.

47. Endowed Resources
 Natural Resources
 Cultural/Heritage Resources
 Created Resources
• Tourism infrastructure
• Special events
• Range of available activities
• Entertainment
• Shopping

48. Supporting Factors and Resources
 General Infrastructure
 Quality of Service
 Accessibility of Destination
 Hospitality
 MarketTies
Destination Management

49.  Destination ManagementOrganisation
• Coordination
• Provision of information
• Monitoring and evaluation Destination
Marketing Management Destination Policy
Planning, Development Human Resource
Development Environmental Management

50.  Situational Conditions
 Destination Location
 Competitive (micro)Environment
• Capabilities of Firms
• Strategies of Firms
• Industry Structure and Firm Rivalry
 Global (macro) Environment
o political/legal/regulatory
o economic
o sociocultural
o technological

51.  Security/ safety
 Price competitiveness
Demand Conditions
 Tourist preferences
 Awareness of destination
 Destination image

52.  There are a number of criteria to assess the
performance of tourist destinations on the
table of competitiveness.