Exploring the concept of tourism competitiveness across the OECD countries

George Ekonomou and George Halkos

Current Issues in Tourism, 2025, vol. 28, issue 19, 3148-3167

Abstract: The present study takes a comprehensive approach to investigate how a new set of untested determinants affects a destination's competitiveness across the OECD countries. Cross-section analyses were implemented for 2009, 2015 and 2021. We conceptualize destination competitiveness in terms of tourism's direct contribution to GDP and energy efficiency. We used two discrete and profitable tourism segments, investments and internal consumption in the travel and tourism industry as explanatory variables. To strengthen our scientific approach, we include the travel and tourism competitiveness index (ttci) in our specifications. This set of explanatory variables is scarce if not omitted in relevant tourism studies. Research findings indicate that investments in tourism lower energy consumption rates, whereas increases in the travel and tourism competitiveness index increase the direct contribution of tourism to a country's GDP. Moreover, as the tourism and travel competitiveness index increases, energy consumption decreases in all three reference years. Based on the results, practical implications indicate that policymakers and tourism planners should create a friendly and appealing investment environment, whereas energy efficiency should dominate every effort of further tourism development. This comprehensive approach instils confidence in the reliability and relevance of our findings for the tourism sector.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/13683500.2024.2388803

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