Tourism Destination Competitiveness in Italy: a Stakeholders' Perspective (original) (raw)

The competitiveness of Italy as a tourism destination

The paper sets out to explore the complexities and potential of Italy’s tourism destination in order to determine how government, firms and civil society can benefit from tourism and avoid its negative impacts. To achieve this aim, the research uses and adapts a theoretical model of destination competitiveness. Results indicate that main problems of Italian destination arise above all from the weakness of National tourism governance. The study highlights that the competitiveness of tourism destination can be improved by shifting from a micro, local level to a macro, national level. Another central question underlying this paper is whether education system in tourism has been adequately represented in destination competitiveness models. The influence of education system on tourism, intended as a key determinant of success in supporting strategies of tourism destination, suggests some directions of further investigation on destination competitiveness

A Model of Tourism Destination Competitiveness: The case of the Italian Destinations of Excellence

Anuario Turismo y Sociedad 11/2013; XIV:121-147, 2013

Tourism worldwide is becoming increasingly competitive. Competitiveness has been associated in the tourism literature as a critical element for the success of tourism destinations. Particular emphasis is placed on identifying and analysing the various factors that influence the competitiveness of tourism destinations. The paper extends the Richie & Crouch (2000) model and develops a set of indicators that considers the different issues concerning tourism competitiveness. The indicators are focused on the various dimensions of sustainability. The paper offers insights into the model, each determinant has been extensively described. The aim of the paper is to test whether and to what extent the current set of indicators integrated into the present model can help explaining the competitiveness of a tourism destination. The model is tested on a unique dataset of 610 Italian Destinations of Excellence. Principal Component Analysis is applied on the responses to the items measuring destination competitiveness.

Components of Destination Competitiveness. The case of Small Tourism Destinations in Italy

International Journal of Tourism Policy, 2014

The paper operationalises the conceptual model of Richie & Crouch (2000) by identifying seven key determinants and a set of indicators of destination competitiveness. The aim of the paper is to test whether and to what extent the set of indicators can help explaining the competitiveness of a tourism destination. The model is tested on a unique dataset of 610 small Italian destinations. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is applied on the responses to the items measuring destination competitiveness. The output is reasonably similar to the corresponding elements of the model. PCA shows the importance of those elements related to sustainability that affect tourism policy-making and destination management processes. PCA also highlights the role of the core attractors - natural and cultural resources, events and gastronomy - thus suggesting that different marketing strategies may be implemented to reach different target consumer groups. Finally, the findings indicate that the demand factor needs to be considered in the explanation of tourist destination competitiveness.

The Strategic Plan for Tourism Development in Italy

Conceptual works on tourism destination competitiveness affirm the central importance of planning the process of value creation within destination. Italy is an emblematic case of why and how a leading tourism destination may lose competitiveness along the years. Up to the 1980s Italy was in fact the top international tourism destination, but then such ranking gradually decreased, because of more complexity of sector and, over all, because of marginality of tourism in the government agenda and more in general of the country. After years of strategic myopia, Italy finally has a tool that formalizes its vision and indicates the key factors that can be leveraged in order to regain ground. In 2013, Italy adopted a National Strategic Plan. Therefore, this paper aims to describe an important turning point in tourism policies for the economic and cultural development of Italy. The research highlights the problematic areas of Italy's tourism industry and explains how a new approach shoul...

Attributes of Destination Competitiveness: the case of the Italian Destinations of Excellence

Proceedings of the International conference on Tourism (ICOT 2012) Setting the Agenda for Special Interest Tourism: Past Present and Future. Konstantinos Andriotis (Editor), 2012

Tourism destination competitiveness has become a crucial issue in today’s more challenging tourism market. The paper extends Richie and Crouch’s (2000) model and develops a set of indicators that considers the different issues concerning tourism competitiveness. The indicators are focused on the various dimensions of sustainability. The aim of the paper is to test whether and to what extent the current set of indicators integrated into the present model can help explaining the competitiveness of a tourist destination. The model is tested on a unique dataset of 610 Italian Destinations of Excellence. Principal Component Analysis is applied on the responses to the items measuring destination competitiveness.

Explaining tourism competitiveness in small and medium destinations: the Italian case

Current Issues in Tourism, 2018

The aim of the paper is to provide evidence of causal relationships between attributes of competitiveness and tourism destination competitiveness (TDC) in small and medium destinations (SMDs). A model of destination competitiveness has been developed and integrated with attributes of competitiveness, and then applied to a unique dataset of 370 outstanding Italian SMDs. A principal component analysis and a partial least square regression have been performed to test the model. The use of economic and financial measures as dependent variables, in addition to standard measures of destination performance, allows to investigate the concept of TDC from a wider economic point of view. Empirical evidence reveals that the multidimensionality and relativity of the concept of TDC influence the relationships among predictors and dependent variables. Managerial capabilities, quality of services, and policies aimed at fostering local empowerment are found to be key determinants of the competitiveness of Italian outstanding SMDs.

Determinants of Tourism Destination Competitiveness: a theoretical model and empirical evidence

2013

Competitiveness has been identified in the tourism literature as a critical factor for the success of tourism destinations. Many studies focus on the main factors affecting destination competitiveness. Nevertheless, there is still no evidence of a significant impact of these factors on the performance of a destination. This study aims at filling this gap, by adapting and extending the Richie & Crouch’s model and applying it on a unique dataset of 610 small and medium Italian Destinations of Excellence. To reduce the large set of variables, a principal component analysis (PCA) has been performed. The dependency between the performance scores and the explanatory variables has been then analysed by an ordinary least square and a partial least square regression. The empirical findings show that a sustainable tourism policy and management is not only good for preserving the ecologic balance and for minimizing negative cultural and social impacts, but has a great importance for improving the competitiveness of a tourism destination. The model has also been applied to measure the competitiveness of two leading tourism destinations in Latin America: Rio de Janeiro and Salvador de Bahia. Despite Brazil will hosts both the FIFA World Cup 2014 and the Olympic Games 2016, the competitiveness of Brazilian tourism destinations is still not adequately studied. Primary quantitative data were collected through experts’ judgement: 277 usable responses were received in the case of Rio de Janeiro, 164 in the case of Salvador. The evidences provide tourism policy makers and stakeholders with a valuable and accurate body of data on which to base their future destination management strategies.

Competitiveness of tourist destinations: demand and performance factors

Tourism & Management Studies, 2019

The present article aims to answer whether tourists and experts have different views on factors that impact tourism at a destination. To that end, we used a qualitative approach and adopted the Critical Incident Technique, which allows respondents to express particular needs and expectations. Data were collected through open-ended questions, the answers were recorded, and notes were taken about the interviewees and relevant parts of their narrative. Data were submitted for content analysis and examined in light of the Brazilian competitiveness model. We considered 77 interviews and classified 209 critical incidents. Results showed that half of the critical incidents did not fit into the analysis categories proposed in the Brazilian competitiveness model, with nine "new categories" emerging in the process. Therefore, there is a difference of perspective between the visitor and the expert concerning what is more important about tourism at a destination.