Central American and Caribbean tourism destinations' competitiveness: A temporal approach

PLoS One. 2021 May 25;16(5):e0252139. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0252139. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

This study presents a new method for measuring tourism destination competitiveness based on data covering a specific time span. Issues, such as the type of data gathered, tools and methods employed, and the size and number of destinations, are addressed, as is the consideration of a specified time period. The proposal is based on the information given by linear regression equations, which not only enables the behaviour of destinations to be observed over time, but also facilitates their comparison. The data employed was from the period 2000-2019. Cluster Analysis was introduced to group destinations according to their performance. Moreover, various aggregation methods are proposed to obtain competitiveness rankings. A comparison between destinations was carried out using the non-aggregative and an aggregative approach. Certain destinations attained better positions than others that are considered as being more competitive in global international rankings. Five clusters were clearly identified. The results were consistent with the World Travel and Tourism Council outputs and underlined the importance attached to tourism development in the destinations from Central America and the Caribbean.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Caribbean Region
  • Cluster Analysis*
  • Humans
  • Linear Models

Grants and funding

P. V. E. Grant Number: RES/19/12/2017, Asociación Universitaria Iberoamericana de Postgrado (AUIP) P. V. E. Grant Numbers: P18-RT-1566, UMA18-FEDERJA-065, Agencia de Innovación y Desarrollo de Andalucía L. M. A. Grant Number: PI-195, University of Pinar Del Río, Cuba https://www.upr.edu.cu F. G. Grant Number: SEJ332. Secretaría General de Universidades, Investigación y Tecnología, Junta de Andalucía.