Evaluation of the competiveness of tourist zones of an island destination: An application of a Many-Facet Rasch Model (MFRM)

• Integration and measurement of key concepts of different competitiveness models.
• Presentation of the first application of a Many-Facet Rasch model to tourism destination competitiveness.
• Analysis and selection of 22 competitiveness factors adapting them to an island destination, Tenerife.
• The importance of subjective information obtained through expert evaluation, which eliminates measurement errors and biases.
• Discussion of the importance of a methodological tool for destination managers and tourism policymakers.

Increasing the competitiveness of tourism destinations requires new methods to evaluate destinations' current situations and to provide a clear indication of the strategic actions needed to promote their competitive factors. Objective measurement by the application of the Rasch Measurement Theory (RMT), specifically the Many-Facet Rasch Model (MFRM), enables these aims to be met. This model also facilitates positioning strategies, even when there is a lack of statistical information about a destination, in which case evaluations by experts are used. The use of this methodology is a step forward in the measurement of tourism destination competitiveness for its ability to compare data generated by experts. This methodology also provides clear indications for destination managers, hoteliers and policymakers of the competitive factors that affect the positioning of tourism destinations.