A CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF TOURISM DESTINATION ...

Political violence has affected tourism the world over, for example Egypt, Israel, and
Peru where political instability adversely affected tourist perceptions of these
destinations. Safety concerns causes a decline in tourist arrivals, reduce tourists
expenditures and can cause a downturn in local travel. The safety and security of a
destination therefore plays a role in determining the level of attractiveness.
The competitive advantage and collaborative advantage paradigms have dominated
management and marketing theory, research and practice as alternatives. The
competitive advantage enables a firm to compete and perform better than competition
(Day and Wensley 1988; Porter 1985). The alternative model, the
collaborative/cooperative model enables firms to enhance their performance through
strategic collaboration (Contractor and Lorange 1988; Neilsen 1987).
Various actions have been debated about how firms can compete and corresponding
strategies put forward. For instance product/service innovations, entry barriers,
marketing and promotion campaigns and competitive rivalry among others, have been
identified as drivers of competition in an industry. Early economists suggested that
competition in an industry is ruinous (Jones 1920) especially if it is solely based on
price. Extending this view, competition within a destination can be ruinous if it is
solely based on price-cutting.
The advantages that cooperative agreements provide for organisations have been well
documented. Close relationships with suppliers and customers can provide firms with
a very important source of innovation, costs reduction (Hagen and Soonkyoo 1998;
Ring and Van de ven 1992). Lado, Boyd and Hanlon (1997) suggest that
organisations can enhance their performance through competition and cooperation
simultaneously. They argue that for firms to enhance their competitiveness they need
to “adopt a repertoires of behaviour that support cooperation and trust” (pg 111).
Thus cooperation can enhance the competitiveness of an organisation, for example
Toyota’s cooperation with its suppliers and the cooperation between Ford and Mazda.
In their Syncretic Model, Lado, Boyd and Hanlon (1997) proposed that organisations
could generate long-term performance by simultaneously competing and cooperation.
Striking a balance between competition and cooperation is vital to the performance
and survival of organisations (Jorde and Teece 1989). Firms within a destination need
to cooperate and compete against other destination.
The destination environment is the most important factor in TDCA. The components
of the destination environment can either enhance or destroy the destination. As an
experience product, tourists requires an environment that is safe, with employees that
are customer and service focussed, enhanced by close cooperation by businesses
within the destination. A conducive destination environment is vital for visitors to
enjoy and be satisfied with the tourist experience. This leads us to Propositions 3 and
4:
P3. The destination environment composed of crowding, safety, skilled human
resources and the level of cooperation and competition within the destination.
P4. The environment in which tourist product is experienced, is related to the
attractiveness and competitiveness of destinations.
Communication and Promotion
Branding of destinations enable tourists to identify a destination and differentiate it
from competitive offerings. Destination branding also acts as a cue for the
communication of benefits to the tourist. The brand acts as a shorthand device for
communicating functional and emotional benefits (de Chernatony and McDonald
1998). As such, it can quicken the destination choice decision process. Branding
Conceptual Papers / Marketing Theory Track 642