Challenges in Measuring Tourism Competitiveness of ASEAN Destinations. Miguela M. Mena, Ph.D. Associate Professor and Dean

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1 Challenges in Measuring Tourism Competitiveness of ASEAN Destinations Miguela M. Mena, Ph.D. Associate Professor and Dean

2 FLOW OF PRESENTATION Notion and Conceptualization of Tourism/Destination Competitiveness Models of Destination Competitiveness Attempts in Measuring Destination Competitiveness OECD s Indicator of Tourism Competitiveness Challenges in Measuring Destination Competitiveness

3 Notion and Conceptualization of Destination Competitiveness No clear definition or model of competitiveness has yet been developed (Dwyer, 2001) A complex, relative and multi-dimensional concept (Spence and Hazard, 1988) Associated with four major groups of thoughts (Waheeduzzan and Ryans, 1996) Literature on destination competitiveness was far less extensive than the international business literature dealing with competitiveness in international business context (countries and firms) There appears to be a fundamental difference between the nature of tourism product and the more traditional goods and services (e.g. the market goes to the tourism product in order to consume the product) Increasing interest in understanding destination competitiveness

4 Towards destination competitiveness Destination competitiveness: A destination s ability to attract tourists What makes a tourism destination truly competitive is its capacity to enlarge tourism expenditure, to increasingly attract visitors at the same time as providing them with satisfying unforgettable experiences (Ritchie & Crouch, 2003)

5 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. (Dwyer & Kim, 2003)

6 OECD Definition Tourism competitiveness for a destination is the ability of the place to optimise its attractiveness for the residents and non-residents, to deliver quality, innovative, and attractive (e.g. providing good value for money) tourism services to consumers and to gain market shares on the domestic and global market places, while ensuring that the available resources supporting tourism are used efficiently and in a sustainable way.

7 MODELS OF DESTINATION COMPETITIVENESS

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14 Attempts in Measuring Destination Competitiveness Authors Measurement Limitations World Economic Forum, 2007 Garau- Taberner, 2006 Crouch and Ritchie, 2005 The Travel & 13 Pillars of T&T competitiveness; population base of Tourism respondents may have effect on the perceptions Competitiveness reflected on the survey; fail to show some key tourismrelated deficiencies; domestic tourism activity not yet Index fully incorporated in the statistics Demand Based on two components, a demand satisfaction index Competitiveness and a destination dissatisfaction index; calculated solely Index on tourist opinions and data derived from a tourist survey Index of Destinations need to conduct a destination audit; many Destination destinations do not have the databases or indicators to Competitiveness assess many of the factors; no order of importance or and relative weight for the elements Sustainability (ICDS) 8

15 Attempts in Measuring Destination Competitiveness Gooroochurn and Sugiyarto, 2005 Tourism There were still many data gaps in the various variables Competitiveness and indicators used; different types of destinations Monitor offering different types of tourist products were lumped together; much importance were given to variables like technology than environment or safety/security; countries with incomplete datasets for identified variables and indicators were included in the comparison/ranking Enright and Newton, 2004 Supply-based approach to competitiveness Only one destination is compared with the rest of its competitors; does not make a global assessment of the destination s capacity to compete; not possible to rank how competitive the destinations are; consumers motivations in traveling to the destination or their assessment of the services they consume not taken into account 8

16 Attempts in Measuring Destination Competitiveness Dwyer and Kim, 2003 Dwyer et.al., 2000 Destination Competitiveness Indicators Aggregate Competitiveness Index Difficulty in applying the indicator system; proposed indicator system useful in identifying the situation of destination competitiveness determinants; generating the database requirements would be too costly for some destinations and other destinations may not have the capability and the resources to generate the databases Investigation limited to some factors that contributed to destination competitiveness; based on price (travel cost and costs incurred at the destination) paid by traveler and applied to 19 destinations 8

17 OECD Core Indicators of Tourism Competitiveness

18 OECD Supplementary and Future Development Indicators

19 Challenges in Measuring Tourism Competitiveness Empirical studies used different methodologies for explaining and measuring competitiveness destinations (secondary data, tourist interviews, stakeholder interviews), sample and destination surveyed Indicators of destination competitiveness can be classified in objective and subjective measured variables Volume of indicators can be massive and discouraging Finding available data for each measure of destination competitiveness would be very problematic Many feature of the measures are multidimensional, abstract or inaccurate Many indicators are not always quantifiable and maybe necessary subjective

20 Challenge for ASEAN Destinations Development of the core, supplementary and future development indicators of tourism competitiveness for ASEAN country destinations Development/upgrading of national tourism information system

21 Key Fundamental Elements of Tourism Competitiveness for The Philippines The Key Success Drivers The Fundamental Non-Negotiables The Enablers The Value-Adders The Appropriate Facilitators The Experience Enhancers The Demand Conditions A shared tourism vision/leadership/political will, guiding values and principles on sustainable tourism development, placing strategic priority on the people factor, clear policies in social tourism, entrepreneurship, community focus and human resources development, strategies for unforeseen events, stable social/economic/political conditions Safety/security of visitors, cleanliness/sanitation and health issues, effective public health system Efficiency/quality of infrastructure (airports, roads, signage, transportation, health and medical facilities, etc.), frequency/capacity of access transport to destination, investment environment for tourism development, visa requirements Location, value for money in destination experiences, packaging of destination experiences, responsiveness of tourism firms to visitor needs, linkages with surrounding destinations and major origin markets Appropriate airline capacity, accommodation, distribution channels, efficiency/attitudes of customs/immigration officials Efficiency/quality of tourist guidance and information, quality/variety of tourist activities, industry appreciation of importance of service quality, hospitality and attitudes of residents towards visitors, community support for special events, authentic experiences Overall destination image, international awareness/perception of destination and its specific product offerings Source: Heath (2003), Kim & Dwyer (2002) and Mena (2007)

22 Maraming Salamat Po!