Tourism competitiveness drivers and tourism performance: a multi-regional analysis

José Luis Durán Román; Juan Ignacio Pulido-Fernández; Isabel Carrillo-Hidalgo; Jairo  Casado-Montilla

doi:10.25145/j.pasos.2025.23.020

Authors

José Luis Durán Román Universidad de Jaén https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7230-7907
Juan Ignacio Pulido-Fernández Universidad de Jaén https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9019-726X
Isabel Carrillo-Hidalgo Universidad de Jaén https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0914-5084
Jairo Casado-Montilla Universidad de Jaén https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1250-1534

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25145/j.pasos.2025.23.020

Keywords:

Tourism competitiveness, tourism competitiveness drivers, tourism performance, tourism arrivals, tourism receipts

Abstract

The aim of this research is to identify tourism competitiveness drivers with the greatest explanatory power in determining the performance of the five geographical areas established by the WEF (Europe and Eurasia, Asia-Pacific, The Americas, The Middle East and North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa). These drivers should be able to predict in these regions, simultaneously, the number of international tourist arrivals and the revenues derived from these arrivals. In order to achieve this objective, an initial sample of 141 countries was used, grouped into the aforementioned geographical areas, along with their respective scores obtained in the TTCI, subsequently applying different statistical techniques, including Partial Least Squares (PLS) Regression. The drivers that offer the highest prediction capacity are: nature, culture, infrastructure, environmental sustainability, and safety and security.

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Academic society: PASOS. Revista de Turismo y Patrimonio Cultural
Publisher: Instituto Universitario de Investigación Social y Turismo. Universidad de La Laguna (España) - Instituto Universitario da Maia ISMAI (Portugal)

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Author Biographies

Juan Ignacio Pulido-Fernández, Universidad de Jaén

Juan Ignacio Pulido-Fernández is Associate Professor in the Department of Economics and Head of the Laboratory of Analysis and Innovation in Tourism (LAInnTUR) at the University of Jaén in Spain. His main research interests focus on tourism economics, destination management, sustainability of tourism, tourism impacts, and social network analysis.

Isabel Carrillo-Hidalgo, Universidad de Jaén

Isabel Carrillo-Hidalgo Hidalgo is Lecturer in the Department of Department of Accounting and Financial Economics at the University of Jaén. PhD in Economics and Business Administration by the University of Jaén. His main research interests focus on tourism finance, tourist expenditure, sustainable tourism, competitiveness, and tourist tax.

Jairo Casado-Montilla, Universidad de Jaén

Jairo Casado-Montilla is an active researcher and member of the Laboratory of Analysis and Innovation in Tourism (LAInnTUR) at the University of Jaén in Spain. His main research interests focus on tourism development, destination management, sustainability of tourism, branding destinations, and social network analysis.

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