Original Article Means of Assessing a Sport Tourism Destination's
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Journal of Physical Education and Sport ® (JPES), 12(4), Art 72, pp. 498 - 506, 2012 online ISSN: 2247 - 806X; p-ISSN: 2247 – 8051; ISSN - L = 2247 - 8051 © JPES Original Article Means of assessing a sport tourism destination’s competitive advantage sources NICOLAE TEODORESCU1, AURELIA-FELICIA STĂNCIOIU1, ANDREEA BOTO1, OCTAVIAN ARSENE1, MIHAIL-CRISTIAN DIłOIU1, 1Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, ROMANIA Published online: December 25, 2012 (Accepted for publication December 05, 2012) DOI:10.7752/jpes.2012.04072; Abstract: The purpose of this article is to determine the extent to which Arges County is considered a mountain-based tourism destination, as well as the undertaken sports activities’ awareness degree, highlighting its competitive advantage and the way in which it was communicated. In this regard, a marketing quantitative research, survey type, applied to a sample of 276 young people aged 18-24 years has been conducted. The results of the research shall establish a starting point for the Arges County destination marketing audit, as a sport tourism destination with a depth of focus for the mountain-based tourism. Key-words: sport tourism, awareness degree, competitive advantage, sport tourism destination Introduction Theoretical framework: The current trends in destination marketing aim, generally, at capitalizing to a greater extent non- traditional, isolated or unknown destinations, for which niche marketing is preferable, being thus able to create a unique experience for the targeted consumer, closely related to the tourism destination profile and its specific activities. These trends are supported by the changing needs, desires and attitudes of tourists, seeking to attain, increasingly often, personalized services. Clearly defined, all these interdependent services, (i.e., accommodation, transportation, leisure, food services etc.) tend to conglomerate a general impression in the consumer's mind, usually associated with the destination itself. Therefore, consisting of a series of natural, cultural, artistic, environmental etc. resources, the destination acquires the characteristics of a global tourism product, offered in a specific geographical area. Including elements of attractiveness and hence, competitiveness of the region, the destination comprises a complex portfolio of products and services, acting as an umbrella- brand, which supports the creation of a holiday experience in compliance with the consumer’s needs. In the specialist literature, it has been emphasized a clear distinction between resources, competencies and capabilities within a tourism destination (Haugland, Ness, Grønseth, Aarstad, 2010, p.272), additionally being created a unique, inimitable combination between these three concepts, as a basis of gaining competitive advantage. The resources, natural and anthropic, renewable and non-renewable (i. e., human, physical, knowledge, capital, infrastructure resources (Porter, 1985, as cited in Cracolici, Nijkamp, 2008, p.336) etc.) refer to all the elements inside a destination, which could become inputs for touristic products and services, while competencies regard the knowledge level and skills, which enable resource-based activities. In practice, resources are used individually, while skills are deployed in tourism enterprises. Furthermore, capabilities aim at a cotinuous configuration, integration and development of the resources background, being competence-based, in order to elaborate touristic products and services, while expressing the extent to which a destination fulfills its purpose in terms of tourism, simultaneously adding value to stakeholders. Given the dynamic nature of competition, and more notably, of the consumer’s needs, the success of a destination (Cracolici, NiJkamp, 2010, p.337) depends, in this case, even more, on the resources’ combination and reconfiguration by enriching them or even by relinquishing some of them in order to build touristic products; accordingly, these processes play an important role in maintaining or even creating competitive advantage. Regarding sport tourism, it is necessary that a touristic product’s adJustment is based on the changes in the environment (i. e., economic, political, legal, natural environment, given the climatic and setting conditions etc.) or on the changes in consumer’s requirements, needs and desires. According to Michael Porter, there are only two types of competitive advantage a company can possess, regardless of the complexity of its strengths: differentiation and domination by costs. They derive from the way a company manages to cope with the influence of the five maJor forces of the industry (new entrants, substitute products and services, suppliers, customers and competition) better than its competitors (Porter, 1985, p.235). Referring to the niche forms of tourism (i.e., business tourism, shopping tourism, sport tourism etc.), the role of product and service differentiation upon customer satisfaction is obvious, which is derived from the clearly defined motivations and from the refined needs and desires of the individuals. The multiple sources of 498 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Corresponding Author: AURELIAFELICIA STĂNCIOIU, Email: [email protected] NICOLAE TEODORESCU, AURELIA-FELICIA STĂNCIOIU, ANDREEA BOTO, OCTAVIAN ARSENE, MIHAIL-CRISTIAN DIłOIU ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- competitive advantage (Cruceru, 2007, p.98) concern market study, profitable market segments identification, segmentation and positioning, continuing with the four components of the marketing mix, all of these converting into real ways of obtaining competitive advantage. Each destination is differentiated at a regional level through a set of unique features regarding its attractiveness, its attributes which contribute to customer satisfaction and its political, cultural and economic structures (Kozak, 2002, p.513). However, the competitiveness analysis of a destination should not be confined to certain characteristic attributes, as quantitative and qualitative strenghts compared to those of its competitors, being necessary to include the tourists’ perceptions and tourism entreprises’ competitiveness operating within it, due to their influence to the destination competitiveness (Cracolici, NiJkamp, 2010, p.337). The first step in forming the competitive advantage in a tourism destination (Melian-Gonzalez, Garcia- Falcon, 2003, p.723) is to identify the necessary elements, specific to its forms of tourism, sport tourism or mountain-based tourism, in the case of Argeș County. These numerous resources belong to the natural environment and to the touristic and sports infrastructure, as mountaineering (Băltescu, 2010, p.6) includes a large range of leisure, spiritual and economic activities, which can be developed in various mountain-based regions. After detailing all the setting conditions in accordance with the rules and regulations imposed by sports and tourism, in the second phase, the current status of the destination resources shall be evaluated, both absolute and relative to the competition’s resources. The next step in building the competitive advantage refers to the destination resources’ classification according to the extent to which they can contribute to the form of tourism, namely attractive, neutral or unattractive resources, which are considered inappropriate, incongruous with the form of tourism or require too significant investment in order to be transformed into attractive resources. In the last stage, after the analysis of the destination potential regarding the considered form of tourism, the resources’ attractiveness and their degree of imitability can be compared with those of the competition. The strengths that will underpin the formulation of competitive advantage can also be identified, resulting from those resources that competitors do not possess, being difficult to imitate and obtain. Based on the model of Michael Porter, Crouch and Ritchie (Crouch, Ritchie, 1999, p.42) defined a new conceptual competitiveness model of a tourism destinations, also highlighting the relationship between resources, competencies and capabilities. This model unrolls by two main axes, namely the comparative advantage and the competitive advantage. The comparative advantage refers to the natural resources, cultural knowledge and skill endowment, while competitive advantage concerns their efficient and effective use. This precedes (Cracolici, NiJkamp, 2010, p.338) the elaboration of a marketing audit, including resources listing, with the purpose to preserve them, to grow and develop their background, using the entire information as a part of transformation processes, which ensure economic results. The model applies both at micro level, referring to comparable basic elements of the destination (i.e., travel agencies, tourism markets, destination public - local people employed in tourism, associations, local financial institutions etc.) and macro level, considering those external factors which have a significant impact on the micro-environment (i.e., closer attention to environment, economic restructuration, demographic changes, advancing tehnology etc.). According to the two authors, a destination’s competitiveness is based on these two levels and covers four maJor components: basic resources and attractions (i.e., special events,