Environmental Determinants of Destination Competitiveness of Tourism

Assignment Task

Abstract

The changing environment global tourism is impacted by the increasing awareness of people towards sustainability issues. There are several benefits of including sustainability solutions while addressing destination competitiveness issues. Sustainable tourism contributes to the local communities' economic and social well-being. Additionally, sustainable tourism guarantees that local people are involved and that local economies are supported. Destination managers may directly address sustainability challenges while developing strategies to increase destination competitiveness since they are at the forefront of decision-making, designing plans, and working with various stakeholders involved in the process of destination management. However, incorporating the topic of sustainability in destination management comes with a number of difficulties. With the destination managers at the forefront of making decisions, they can be directly involved in addressing the issues of sustainability while making strategies for enhancing destination competitiveness. Therefore, the research aims to find the role of destination managers as well as their perceptions regarding environmental sustainability concerns when they reason about destination competitiveness.

Background

Destination management refers to the process of stakeholder management carried out in order to develop a visitor designation. The process of destination management is a continuous process that aims to plan for the social, cultural as well as infrastructural aspects of a destination in order to develop the attractiveness of the destination for visitors. Destination managers are the people in charge of managing as well as implementing the strategies on a local or national level. Moreover, they are also associated with development of strategies for the development, management and promotion of a destination. Destination managers approach communities and destinations to respond to the ever-changing condition and determine the level of tourism they want and the benefits of such activities (Fyall & Garrod, 2019).

Moreover, destination competitiveness refers to the ability of destination managers to boost tourism of a particular destination by facilitating lasting and superior experience for tourists, thereby ensuring profitability and long term sustainability of the place. Destination competitiveness also helps in improvement of life for local community and supports preservation of environment and local ecosystems. Each destination is different from another and the destination managers have to identify issues and find solutions about various aspects of a destination in order to enhance the competitiveness of that destination. Sustainability concerns are among the factors that destination managers have to take into consideration while making strategies for enhancing destination competitiveness (Crouch, 2011). The market for tourism has been significantly growing due to demand form customers. Apart from that, tourism industry is also unstable due to dynamic market forces. However, with the ever-changing external environment and market trends as well as increasing awareness for environmental and ecological concerns, the tourism industry faces new challenges and demands. Moreover, there is a significant connection as well as interdependence between a destination and environment as well as sustainability solutions. Thus, while a tourist destination is dependent on its natural resources, tourism itself can negatively impact the local environment (LinkedIn, 2019). 

There are several benefits of including sustainability solutions while addressing destination competitiveness issues. The economic and social well-being of the local communities is supported through sustainable tourism. Moreover, with the exploitation of local resources being a significant threat to a destination, sustainable tourism ensures that ecological and social resources are used in an efficient manner. Moreover, reducing waste and overconsumption lowers long-term environmental damage and improves living standard in that particular destination. Furthermore, sustainable tourism ensures involvement of local communities and fostering of economic growth in those regions. Therefore, there is need for addressing sustainability issues while making strategies for destination competitiveness (Armenski, 2017).

With the destination managers at the forefront of making decisions, formulating strategies, and collaborating with different stakeholders involved in the process of destination management, they can be directly involved in addressing the issues of sustainability while making strategies for enhancing destination competitiveness. However, there are several challenges in involving the issue of sustainability in destination management. These challenges include the issue of making and implementing sustainable solutions that are economically viable and align with destination competitiveness. Moreover, the challenges also require communication mong destination managers, authorities, local communities and stakeholders as well as tourists, which can be challenging to carry out effectively (Armenski, 2017).

Research Question

Research question refers to the questions that a research aims to answer. It is the basis of the systematic study being carried out and aids in setting a clear course for the research methodology (Hunt, 2018).

Research Question relevant to the motivation of the study is as follows:-

What role and relevance do destination managers ascribe to environmental sustainability concerns when they reason about destination competitiveness?

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