Publication
Destination image & competitiveness : the case of Madeira island
| Summary: | Tourism competitiveness thematic has become, in recent years, an area of great interest, as the success of a tourist destination is determined by its relative competitiveness compared to other destinations. It is extremely important to develop tools for measuring competitiveness for public policy and administration of tourism businesses. There has been continuing concern internationally about how to brand destinations, either regional or national, to increasingly demanding tourists. Destination Marketers are seeking effective positioning strategies to increase destination competitiveness when they are becoming highly substitutable (Ekinci & Hosany,2006). Competitiveness depends on the attributes of the destination and its image, as compared to other tourist destinations. Including management, development and qualification factors, marks the difference between the competitiveness studies and studies of destination image. Although some authors have study the area, it was found that this research field is still incipient in existing studies, which remain focused on certain aspects of competitiveness, but not in the destination competitiveness with multidimensional coverage. The main objective of this thesis is to determine empirically what are the basic dimensions and key success factors that must be managed by entities with power in the definition and implementation of policies and strategies in tourist destinations, to achieve and maintain a sustainable competitive position in Portugal, particularly in Madeira Island, also establishing how vital is, to achieve this goal, establish a model that should be defined and managed in close liaison with the local trade. This thesis is based on research on the topic and in a set of three articles written during the PhD, published in scientific journals that deal with the destination image and competitiveness theme. Following the general idea of the importance of destination image and competitiveness for Marketers and academics, this study also proposes a strategic approach to the natural disasters management, from the pro-activity in the pre-crisis planning until implementation and strategic and finally the evaluation and feedback. The findings clearly indicate that Portugal and Madeira Island can benefit significantly in terms of competitiveness by adopting an evidence-based approach to tourism policy- making. It is shown that government and the private sector have a key role to play for destinations to achieve competitiveness through the policies they adopt, highlighting the importance of informed and strategic approaches to governance. Policies resulting from the research findings, particularly those that are directly related to competitiveness and destination image are discussed here, therefore, related policy implications could derive from this framework. |
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| Main Authors: | Pinto Machado, Luiz |
| Subject: | Tourism Destination Image Satisfaction Competitiveness Madeira Island |
| Year: | 2013 |
| Country: | Portugal |
| Document type: | doctoral thesis |
| Access type: | restricted access |
| Associated institution: | Universidade de Lisboa |
| Language: | Portuguese |
| Origin: | Repositório da Universidade de Lisboa |
| Summary: | Tourism competitiveness thematic has become, in recent years, an area of great interest, as the success of a tourist destination is determined by its relative competitiveness compared to other destinations. It is extremely important to develop tools for measuring competitiveness for public policy and administration of tourism businesses. There has been continuing concern internationally about how to brand destinations, either regional or national, to increasingly demanding tourists. Destination Marketers are seeking effective positioning strategies to increase destination competitiveness when they are becoming highly substitutable (Ekinci & Hosany,2006). Competitiveness depends on the attributes of the destination and its image, as compared to other tourist destinations. Including management, development and qualification factors, marks the difference between the competitiveness studies and studies of destination image. Although some authors have study the area, it was found that this research field is still incipient in existing studies, which remain focused on certain aspects of competitiveness, but not in the destination competitiveness with multidimensional coverage. The main objective of this thesis is to determine empirically what are the basic dimensions and key success factors that must be managed by entities with power in the definition and implementation of policies and strategies in tourist destinations, to achieve and maintain a sustainable competitive position in Portugal, particularly in Madeira Island, also establishing how vital is, to achieve this goal, establish a model that should be defined and managed in close liaison with the local trade. This thesis is based on research on the topic and in a set of three articles written during the PhD, published in scientific journals that deal with the destination image and competitiveness theme. Following the general idea of the importance of destination image and competitiveness for Marketers and academics, this study also proposes a strategic approach to the natural disasters management, from the pro-activity in the pre-crisis planning until implementation and strategic and finally the evaluation and feedback. The findings clearly indicate that Portugal and Madeira Island can benefit significantly in terms of competitiveness by adopting an evidence-based approach to tourism policy- making. It is shown that government and the private sector have a key role to play for destinations to achieve competitiveness through the policies they adopt, highlighting the importance of informed and strategic approaches to governance. Policies resulting from the research findings, particularly those that are directly related to competitiveness and destination image are discussed here, therefore, related policy implications could derive from this framework. |
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