Destination Competitiveness: Public and Private Sector Tourism Management in Serbia

Abstract

This study explores the underlying dimensions of destination competitiveness, analyzing the contributions of government and industry stakeholders in enhancing the competitive position of Serbia on the international tourism market. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were used to explore latent dimensionality of “destination competitiveness” among 48 competitiveness attributes evaluated by experts from the public and private sectors of Serbia’s tourism industry. Results show that Serbian competitiveness structure comprises five dimensions: risk management and adaptive environmental strategies, innovation and product development, planning for sustainable development, networking and community concern, and education for sustainability. The research identifies challenges and suggests areas where private and public linkages should be strengthened in order to enhance the competitiveness of Serbia’s tourism industry. Generically, the study advances our understanding of destination competitiveness, its multidimensional nature, and the implications for policy making.

Are Partnerships Enhancing Tourism Destination Competitiveness?

“…Therefore partnerships should not only be between the public and private sectors but also involve communities. This type of partnership ensures that local communities are able to secure and share the economic benefits from tourism, which will further support sustainable tourism development (Armenski et al, 2018).…”

Antecendent and Consequence Destination Innovation

“…The basic thought of creating a competitive strategy starts from how the business will be developed, what exactly the goal is and what policies will be needed to achieve that goal (Musetescu, 2013). The concept of sustainable development is adopted into the concept of developing sustainable tourism development (Armenski et al, 2018). Sustainable tourism development is defined as a tourism development process that is oriented to the preservation of resources needed for future development and does not have a negative impact on the development of local culture, as well as the existence of such cultures must be maintained for future generations (Aydin et al, 2018).…”

Inducing Destination Images Among International Audiences: The Differing Effects of Promoting Sport Events on the Destination Image of a City Around the World

“…Over the last several decades, the international tourism market has become hypercompetitive with many cities, regions or nations bidding for the attention of the potential tourist (Armenski, Dwyer, & Pavlukovic, 2017). Many cities use the development and rejuvenation of sport facilities to revitalize downtown areas (Smith, 2011).…”