A reexamination of inbound tourism performance

Abstract

This paper proposes to investigate tourism performance by employing fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis. International tourist destinations are examined to identify the different paths leading to high levels of tourism arrivals and tourism receipts. The findings demonstrate that tourism performance is complex and requires specific combinations of conditions to succeed. The research identifies two types of destinations that rely on different factors to achieve success: Type 1 focuses on price competitiveness, while Type 2 emphasises the quality of the experience. Furthermore, it shows that a peculiar destination performs well in terms of receipts, relying on both price competitiveness and quality of the experience despite a lack of attractions. Type 1 and Type 2 destinations have good predictive validity in a pandemic context.