Inter-Enterprise Destination Competitiveness

This paper describes an application and analysis of the destination competitiveness concept to inter-enterprise tourism competitiveness in the marine-based tourism sector. In this context, it specifically illustrates the tourism potential of small craft harbours in the marine-based tourism sector by investigating the competitive potential of tourism in five small craft harbours. Data were gathered from in-depth interviews of key informants and used to estimate the economic impact of tourism at each harbour. Comparisons are made between the harbours and economic activities revealing characteristics that might explain the differences in the relative success that each has had in generating marine-based tourism.Varying success is found to be most related to two factors: 1) the number of services provided at these harbours; and 2) the existence of tourism product. A 2 × 2 destination competitiveness matrix based on these two factors is offered as an effective way to categorize small craft harbours from a tourism potential perspective.