A stakeholder perspective on policy indicators of destination competitiveness

The competitiveness of a tourism destination relates to various factors as constitutive elements of destination competitiveness, such as resources, destination management, demand and situational conditions. While models of destination competitiveness have hardly focused on the role of businesses, several authors on entrepreneurship have already emphasized the importance of the cooperative capabilities of different stakeholders in a tourism destination to improve competitiveness. They have dealt with the development and operation of a destination. Drawing from stakeholder theory, this paper elaborates on the management and policy factors influencing the competitiveness of a destination by proposing a stakeholder perspective. Policy factors related to vision, development, monitoring, interdependencies and market ties are identified. The results suggest that some of those variables (e.g. vision, monitoring) have a significantly positive influence on perceived destination competitiveness. Thus, the purpose of this research is to provide empirical evidence of competitiveness in destinations by putting policy and planning factors at the focus of attention.