Destination competitiveness research over the past three decades: a computational literature review using topic modelling

Figures & data

Table 1. Summary of the analysed destination competitiveness literature reviews (N/A represents not available).

Literature	Method	No. Reviewed Publications	Time	Review Perspectives
Abreu-Novais et al. (2016)	Narrative Literature Review	N/A	N/A-2015	Definitions; Conceptual models; Measurements
Cronjé and du Plessis (2020)	Manual Systematic Literature Review	121	1997–2018	Literature Statistical Information
Y. R. Kim et al. (2022)	Manual Systematic Literature Review	119	2005–2021	Literature Statistical Information; Levels of Competitiveness
Mior Shariffuddin et al. (2022)	Manual Systematic Literature Review	80	1983–2021	Literature Statistical Information; Factors of Competitiveness
Xu and Au (2023)	Manual Systematic Literature Review	183	2010–2022	Literature Statistical Information; Research themes; Research Design (supply & demand perspectives); Theories; Destination Types

Figure 1. The proposed computational literature review framework for achieving the conceptual goal of envisioning.

Flowchart of the proposed computational literature review framework. It contains three parts, the left part represents the literature collection. It starts with two databases for literature collection and ends with cleaned articles. The top right represents the statistical analysis, it includes descriptive analysis and impact analysis. The bottom right represents the topic analysis, it includes distribution analysis and trend analysis.

Figure 2. Distribution of destination competitiveness publications over time.

Histogram of the number of publications on destination competitiveness from 1994 to 2023. The higher the bar, the higher the number of publications. There is a significant upward trend after 2007.

Figure 3. Distribution of publication among different sources.

Pie chart of the number of publications in books, book chapters, conference proceedings and journal articles. The majority of the publications appear in journals and conference proceedings.

Figure 4. Distribution of the number of publications in the top 15 journals with the most publications on destination competitiveness.

Horizontal bar chart of the number of publications in the top 15 journals publishing destination competitiveness studies. The longer the horizontal bar, the higher the number of publications.

Table 2. Top-5 publications ranked by citations.

Title	Authors	Year	Source	Cites
Marketing the competitive destination of the future	Buhalis, D.	2000	Tourism Management	1503
Tourism, competitiveness, and societal prosperity	Crouch, G.I. and Ritchie, J.R.B.	1999	Journal of Business Research	938
Destination competitiveness: Determinants and indicators	Dwyer, L. and Kim, C.	2003	Current Issues in Tourism	922
Tourism destination competitiveness: A quantitative approach	Enright, M.J. and Newton, J.	2004	Tourism Management	573
Destination competitiveness: an analysis of determinant attributes	Crouch, G.I.	2011	Journal of Travel Research	411

Table 3. Top-10 researchers ranked by corpus specific H-Index and citations.

Rank	Author	H-Index	Rank	Author	Citations
1	Dwyer, L.	14	1	Dwyer, L.	1917
2	Kozak, M.	8	2	Buhalis, D.	1803
3	Mihalic, T.	7	3	Crouch, G.I.	1488
4	Kubickova, M.	7	4	Kim, C.	1103
5	Ramón-Rodríguez, A.B.	7	5	Ritchie, J.R.B.	1046
6	Croes, R.	6	6	Mihalic, T.	949
7	Cvelbar, L.K.	6	7	Enright, M.J.	853
8	Perles-Ribes, J.F.	6	8	Newton, J.	853
9	Moreno-Izquierdo, L.	6	9	Kozak, M.	535
10	Crouch, G.I.	5	10	Nijkamp, P.	426

Table 4. Results of the detected topics and themes.

ID	Topic	Represent Documents	Resulting Theme
T1	Attributes	Azzopardi and Nash (2016); Crouch (2011)	Attributes
T2	Evaluation Index	S. Huang et al. (2017); Yang and Yu (2020)	Evaluation Method
T16	Composite indicators	Gómez-Vega and Picazo-Tadeo (2019); Mendola and Volo (2017)
T3	ICT	Boes et al. (2016); Milićević et al. (2020)	Particular Aspects
T4	Hotels	J. J. Kim et al. (2019); Xia et al (2019, 2020).
T6	Sustainability	Esparon et al. (2015); Pulido-Fernández et al. (2015)
T9	Branding & Marketing	Buhalis (2000); Pike and Mason (2011)
T12	Transportation	Khan et al. (2017); Łapko (2014)
T14	Tourist Perceptions	C. M. Chen et al. (2011); Jaković et al. (2017)
T18	Network Effect	Brandão et al. (2019); Romeiro and Costa (2010)
T20	Cultural Resources	Vašaničová and Košíková (2019)
T21	Pandemic & Crisis	Fernández et al. (2022); Xu et al. (2021)
T22	Knowledge Management	Amaya Molinar et al. (2021); García-Almeida and Klassen (2017)
T23	Quality Management	Go and Govers (2000); Rudančić-Lugarić (2014)
T5	Eco & Rural Destination	Chi and Han (2021); Thong et al. (2022);	Specific types of Destinations
T7	Health Tourism Destination	Mosammam et al. (2019); Yu et al. (2021)
T8	Croatia	Kulas et al. (2014); Miličević et al. (2017)	General Destinations
T10	Slovenia	Gomezelj (2011); Gomezelj and Mihalič (2008)
T11	Ukraine & Russia	Andrades and Dimanche (2017); Kovalov et al. (2017)
T13	Romania & Bulgaria	Nica et al. (2013); Popescu and Plesoianu (2019)
T15	South Africa & Botswana	du Plessis and Saayman (2018); Nare et al. (2017)
T17	Countries	Leung and Baloglu (2013); Stanišić et al. (2022)
T19	Latin America	Luisa Vásquez et al. (2021); Miller et al. (2008)
T24	DEA	Herrero-Prieto (2017); Martín et al. (2017)	Method

Table 5. The popularity of the detected topics and themes.

ID	Topic	Normalised Topic Frequency	Theme	Normalised Theme Frequency
T1	Attributes	0.249	Attributes	0.249
T2	Evaluation Index	0.104	Evaluation Method	0.126
T16	Composite indicators	0.022
T3	ICT	0.056	Particular Aspects	0.329
T4	Hotels	0.047
T6	Sustainability	0.042
T9	Branding & Marketing	0.034
T12	Transportation	0.032
T14	Tourist Perceptions	0.031
T18	Network Effect	0.019
T20	Cultural Resources	0.018
T21	Pandemic & Crisis	0.018
T22	Knowledge Management	0.017
T23	Quality Management	0.015
T5	Eco & Rural Destination	0.047	Specific types of Destinations	0.085
T7	Health Tourism Destination	0.038
T8	Croatia	0.036	General Destinations	0.197
T10	Slovenia	0.034
T11	Ukraine & Russia	0.033
T13	Romania & Bulgaria	0.032
T15	South Africa & Botswana	0.024
T17	Countries	0.019
T19	Latin America	0.019
T24	DEA	0.014	Method	0.014

Figure 5. Distribution of the topics and themes from 2021 to 2023.

The normalised frequency of topics and themes from 2021 to 2023, including horizontal bars, fuchsia dots and dashed lines. The horizontal bars represent the normalised frequency of topics. The fuchsia dot represents the normalised frequency of themes. The longer the horizontal bar, the higher the normalised frequency. The dashed lines are used to visualise the margin between the normalised frequencies of the themes.

Table 6. Trends of the research topics and themes from 1994 to 2022 (^ns p > 0.05; *p ≤ 0.05; **p ≤ 0.01; ***p ≤ 0.001).

Topic (ID)	Slope (Topic trend)	P-value (Topic)	Theme	Trend
Ukraine & Russia (T11)	0.0014	***	General Destinations	⇈*
Croatia (T8)	0.0014	***
Slovenia (T10)	0.0012	***
South Africa & Botswana (T15)	0.0010	***
Countries (T17)	0.0008	***
Romania & Bulgaria (T13)	0.0009	ns
Latin America (T19)	−0.0062	ns
Eco & Rural Destination (T5)	0.0013	ns	Specific types of Destinations	⇈
Health Tourism Destination (T7)	0.0007	ns
ICT (T3)	0.0023	***	Particular Aspects	⇈*
Tourist Perceptions (T14)	0.0013	***
Hotels (T4)	0.0017	**
Pandemic & Crisis (T21)	0.0008	**
Transportation (T12)	0.0011	*
Network Effect (T18)	0.0006	*
Cultural Resources (T20)	0.0007	ns
Knowledge Management (T22)	0.0001	ns
Quality Management (T23)	−0.0044	ns
Sustainability (T6)	−0.0012	ns
Branding & Marketing (T9)	−0.0005	ns
Composite indicators (T16)	0.0009	**	Evaluation Method	⇈*
Evaluation Index (T2)	0.0027	ns
Attributes (T1)	−0.0122	*	Attributes	⇊*
DEA (T24)	0.0005	ns	Method	⇈

Abreu-Novais, M., Ruhanen, L., & Arcodia, C. (2016). Destination competitiveness: What we know, what we know but shouldn’t and what we don’t know but should. Current Issues in Tourism, 19(6), 492–512. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2015.1091443

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Cronjé, D. F., & du Plessis, E. (2020). A review on tourism destination competitiveness. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Management, 45, 256–265. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2020.06.012

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Kim, Y. R., Liu, A., & Williams, A. M. (2022). Competitiveness in the visitor economy: A systematic literature review. Tourism Economics, 28(3), 817–842. https://doi.org/10.1177/13548166211034437

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Mior Shariffuddin, N. S., Azinuddin, M., Hanafiah, M. H., & Wan Mohd Zain, W. M. A. (2022). A comprehensive review on tourism destination competitiveness (TDC) literature. Competitiveness Review: An International Business Journal, 33(4), 787–819. https://doi.org/10.1108/CR-04-2021-0054

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Xu, J., & Au, T. (2023). Destination competitiveness since 2010: Research themes, approaches, and agenda Competitiveness Review. Ahead-Of-Print, 78(3), 665–696. https://doi.org/10.1108/TR-10-2022-0494

 Google Scholar

Azzopardi, E., & Nash, R. (2016). A framework for island destination competitiveness–perspectives from the island of Malta. Current Issues in Tourism, 19(3), 253–281. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500.2015.1025723

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Crouch, G. I. (2011). Destination competitiveness: An analysis of determinant attributes. Journal of Travel Research, 50(1), 27–45. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287510362776

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Huang, S., Li, Y., & Dai, P. (2017). Evaluation of tourism competitiveness of Chinese smart tourism city. Acta Geographica Sinica, 72(2), 242–255.

 Google Scholar

Yang, L., & Yu, L. (2020). A study on the evaluation of urban tourism competitiveness in guangdong-Hong Kong-macao greater bay area. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 526(1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/526/1/012059

 Google Scholar

Gómez-Vega, M., & Picazo-Tadeo, A. J. (2019). Ranking world tourist destinations with a composite indicator of competitiveness: To weigh or not to weigh? Tourism Management, 72, 281–291. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2018.11.006

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Mendola, D., & Volo, S. (2017). Building composite indicators in tourism studies: Measurements and applications in tourism destination competitiveness. Tourism Management, 59, 541–553. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2016.08.011

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Boes, K., Buhalis, D., Inversini, A., Gretzel, Zhong, L., & Chulmo Koo, U. (2016). Smart tourism destinations: ecosystems for tourism destination competitiveness. International Journal of Tourism Cities, 2(2), 108–124. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJTC-12-2015-0032

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Milićević, S., Petrović, J., & Đorđević, N. (2020). ICT as a factor of destination competitiveness: The case of the republics of former Yugoslavia. Management & Marketing, 15(3), 381–392. https://doi.org/10.2478/mmcks-2020-0022

 Google Scholar

Kim, J. J., Lee, Y., & Han, H. (2019). Exploring competitive hotel selection attributes among guests: An importance-performance analysis. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 36(9), 998–1011. https://doi.org/10.1080/10548408.2019.1683484

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Xia, H., Vu, H. Q., Lan, Q., Law, R., & Li, G. (2019). Identifying hotel competitiveness based on hotel feature ratings. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 28(1), 81–100. https://doi.org/10.1080/19368623.2018.1504366

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Xia, H., Vu, H. Q., Law, R., & Li, G. (2020). Evaluation of hotel brand competitiveness based on hotel features ratings. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 86, 102366. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2019.102366

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Esparon, M., Stoeckl, N., Farr, M., & Larson, S. (2015). The significance of environmental values for destination competitiveness and sustainable tourism strategy making: Insights from Australia’s great barrier reef world heritage area. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 23(5), 706–725. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2014.998678

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Pulido-Fernández, J. I., Andrades-Caldito, L., & Sánchez-Rivero, M. (2015). Is sustainable tourism an obstacle to the economic performance of the tourism industry? Evidence from an international empirical study. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 23(1), 47–64. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2014.909447

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Buhalis, D. (2000). Marketing the competitive destination of the future. Tourism Management, 21(1), 97–116. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0261-5177(99)00095-3

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Pike, S., & Mason, R. (2011). Destination competitiveness through the lens of brand positioning: The case of Australia’s Sunshine coast. Current Issues in Tourism, 14(2), 169–182. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683501003797523

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Khan, S. A. R., Qianli, D., SongBo, W., Zaman, K., & Zhang, Y. (2017). Travel and tourism competitiveness index: The impact of air transportation, railways transportation, travel and transport services on international inbound and outbound tourism. Journal of Air Transport Management, 58, 125–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jairtraman.2016.10.006

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Łapko, A. (2014). Urban tourism in Szczecin and its impact on the functioning of the urban transport system. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 151, 207–214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.10.020

 Google Scholar

Chen, C. M., Chen, S. H., & Lee, H. T. (2011). The destination competitiveness of Kinmen’s tourism industry: Exploring the interrelationships between tourist perceptions, service performance, customer satisfaction and sustainable tourism. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 19(2), 247–264. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2010.517315

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Jaković, B., Bakan, R., & Tubić, D. (2017, May 4-6). Competitiveness of local destinations based on traditional events. In 4th International Scientific Conference ToSEE-Tourism in Southern and Eastern Europe 2017 “Tourism and Creative Industries: Trends and Challenges” Opatija, Croatia, (pp. 213–225).

 Google Scholar

Brandão, F., Breda, Z., & Costa, C. (2019). Innovation and internationalization as development strategies for coastal tourism destinations: The role of organizational networks. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Management, 41, 219–230. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2019.10.004

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Romeiro, P., & Costa, C. (2010). The potential of management networks in the innovation and competitiveness of rural tourism: A case study on the Valle del jerte (Spain). Current Issues in Tourism, 13(1), 75–91. https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500902730452

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Vašaničová, P., & Košíková, M. (2019). The relationship between the overall travel and tourism competitiveness index and its cultural aspects. In The 13th international days of statistics and economics (pp. 1568–1577). Prague University of Economics and Business, Prague.

 Google Scholar

Fernández, J. A. S., Martínez, J. M. G., & Martín, J. M. M. (2022). An analysis of the competitiveness of the tourism industry in a context of economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 174, 121301. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2021.121301

 PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Xu, J., McKercher, B., & Ho, P. S. Y. (2021). Post-COVID destination competitiveness. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 26(11), 1244–1254. https://doi.org/10.1080/10941665.2021.1960872

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Amaya Molinar, C. M., Yáñez Velazco, J. C., & Magaña Carrillo, I. (2021). Higher education, knowledge economy, and tourism competitiveness in the APEC area. In J. E. Rangel Delgado & A. Ivanova Boncheva (Eds.), Knowledge society and education in the Asia-Pacific: Recent trends and future challenges (pp. 79–101). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2333-2_7

 Google Scholar

García-Almeida, D. J., & Klassen, N. (2017). The influence of knowledge-based factors on taxi competitiveness at island destinations: An analysis on tips. Tourism Management, 59, 110–122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2016.07.011

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Go, F. M., & Govers, R. (2000). Integrated quality management for tourist destinations: A European perspective on achieving competitiveness. Tourism Management, 21(1), 79–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0261-5177(99)00098-9

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Rudančić-Lugarić, A. (2014). Integrated quality management of a tourist destination–the key factor in achieving a competitive advantage. Interdisciplinary Management Research, 10, 312–331.

 Google Scholar

Chi, X., & Han, H. (2021). Emerging rural tourism in China’s current tourism industry and tourist behaviors: The case of Anji County. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 38(1), 58–74. https://doi.org/10.1080/10548408.2020.1862026

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Thong, J. Z., Lo, M. C., Ramayah, T., & Mohamad, A. A. (2022). Destination resources as precursors of ecotourism competitiveness: A study of totally protected areas in Sarawak, Malaysia during COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Ecotourism, 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/14724049.2022.2162061

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Mosammam, H. M., Sarrafi, M., & Nia, J. T. (2019). Measuring the competitiveness of Iran’s health tourism. International Journal of Tourism Policy, 9(3), 201–221. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJTP.2019.104875

 Google Scholar

Yu, J., Seo, J., & Hyun, S. S. (2021). Attributes of medical tourism destination brands: Case study of the Korean medical tourism market. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 38(1), 107–121. https://doi.org/10.1080/10548408.2021.1875104

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Kulas, A., Knezevic, S., & Martinovic, M. (2014). The human resources in function of creation of innovative tourism of the republic of Croatia-perspectives of eastern croatia. Economy of Eastern Croatia Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow, 3, 176–184.

 Google Scholar

Miličević, K., Mihalič, T., & Sever, I. (2017). An investigation of the relationship between destination branding and destination competitiveness. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 34(2), 209–221. https://doi.org/10.1080/10548408.2016.1156611

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Gomezelj, D. O. (2011). The local business sector’s perception of the competitiveness of Slovenia as a tourist destination. Tourism: An International Interdisciplinary Journal, 59(1), 25–46.

 Google Scholar

Gomezelj, D. O., & Mihalič, T. (2008). Destination competitiveness—applying different models, the case of Slovenia. Tourism Management, 29(2), 294–307. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2007.03.009

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Andrades, L., & Dimanche, F. (2017). Destination competitiveness and tourism development in Russia: Issues and challenges. Tourism Management, 62, 360–376. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2017.05.008

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Kovalov, B., Burlakova, I., & Voronenko, V. (2017). Evaluation of tourism competitiveness of Ukraine’s regions. Journal of Environmental Management & Tourism, 8(2), 460.

 Google Scholar

Nica, A. M., Zdaniuk, B. A., & Nistoreanu, P. (2013). Analysis of competitiveness in tourism sectors within central and Eastern Europe: Romania case study. Actual Problems of Economics, 2(1–2), 125–134.

 Google Scholar

Popescu, A., & Plesoianu, D. (2019). Comparison regarding the tourism impact on the economy of Bulgaria and Romania. Scientific Papers, 19(1), 395–408.

 Google Scholar

du Plessis, E., & Saayman, M. (2018). Aspects contributing to tourism price competitiveness of South Africa. Tourism Economics, 24(2), 146–156. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354816617729023

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Nare, A. T., Musikavanhu, G. M., & Chiutsi, S. (2017). Tourism diversification in Botswana-a stakeholder perspective. African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism & Leisure, 6(3), 1–14.

 Google Scholar

Leung, X. Y., & Baloglu, S. (2013). Tourism competitiveness of Asia Pacific destinations. Tourism Analysis, 18(4), 371–384. https://doi.org/10.3727/108354213X13736372325876

 Google Scholar

Stanišić, T., Milićević, S., & Krstić, B. (2022). Natural resources in function of sustainable and competitive tourism development of the EU countries. Problemy Ekorozwoju, 17(1), 64–70. https://doi.org/10.35784/pe.2022.1.06

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Luisa Vásquez, C., Lemoine Quintero, F. Á., Bojórquez-Vargas, A. R., Tamez Martínez, X., & Sánchez-Solís, Y. (2021). Competitiveness and sustainability of Latin America’s travel and tourism industry. Review of International Geographical Education Online, 11(5), 4491–4498.

 Google Scholar

Miller, M. M., Henthorne, T. L., & George, B. P. (2008). The competitiveness of the Cuban tourism industry in the twenty-first century: A strategic re-evaluation. Journal of Travel Research, 46(3), 268–278. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287507308319

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar

Herrero-Prieto, L. C. (2017). Evaluating the efficiency of cultural travel destinations: A DEA approach. In V. M. Ateca-Amestoy, V. Ginsburgh, I. Mazza, J. O’Hagan, & J. Prieto-Rodriguez (Eds.), Enhancing participation in the arts in the EU: Challenges and methods (pp. 237–248). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09096-2_16

 Google Scholar

Martín, J. C., Mendoza, C., & Román García, C. (2017). Regional Spanish tourism competitiveness: A DEA-MONITUR approach. Region, 4(3), 153–173. https://doi.org/10.18335/region.v4i3.145

 Google Scholar