Introduction

During the last decade there has been a growing interest in tourism literature in the notion of the 'competitive destination'. In the preceding decades competition in tourism was very often identified with the price component and was frequently restricted to the micro-level (see Chapter 4). It cannot be denied that for a destination as well as for an enterprise, price is a vital element of competitiveness (see Chapters 1 and 3; Dwyer et al., 2000). However, since the beginning of the 1990s (see AIEST, 1993; Poon, 1993; Goeldner et al., 2000) the tourism sector and tourism scientists have been aware that besides comparative advantages and price, many other variables determine the competitiveness of a tourism enterprise or destination. More and more authors and practitioners are focusing on the competitive destination.

The idea of the competitive destination contains two elements: destination and competitiveness. A tourism destination is a well-defined geographical area within which the tourist enjoys various types of tourism experiences. Ritchie and Crouch (2003) distinguish several types and levels of tourism destinations:

• A country

• A macro-region consisting of several countries (e.g.Africa)

• A province or another administrative entity

• A localized region (e.g. Flanders, Normandy)

• A city or town

• A unique locale with great drawing power (e.g. a national park, Igua u Falls, Disney World in Orlando, the Notre Dame in Paris).

In relative terms, very few tourists visit a macro-region or country such as Spain, USA, etc. Tourists are interested in regions and towns, such as Andalucia in Spain, the Algarve...