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

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 analyzing 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