Determinants of tourism destination competitiveness in the countries most visited by international tourists: Proposal of a synthetic index

Tourism destination competitiveness is a multidimensional concept that is widely studied in the academic literature, but multiple factors make its measurement a difficult task. In this article, we design a synthetic index to rank the 80 countries that attract the majority of international tourists by level of tourism competitiveness. In order to do this, we use all of the simple variables included in the 2017 Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index, proposing a new methodology for the construction of this synthetic index, which it solves the problems of aggregation of variables expressed in different measures, arbitrary weighting and duplicity of information; issues that remain unresolved by the TTCI. Likewise, we analyse the most influential dimensions in tourism competitiveness. Air transport infrastructures, cultural resources and ICT readiness are the key dimensions that explain the main disparities.Funding Agency Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness State Research Agency (SRA) European Union (EU) ECO2017-86822-Rinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Port choice by intra-regional container service operators : an application of decision-making techniques to liner services between Malaysian and other Asian ports

Intra-regional container service operators are challenged to design regular and reliable liner services connecting regional ports at the lowest cost and shortest transit time while considering customer demand. This paper focuses on the selection of ports of call in regular intra-regional container services, an under-researched part of the container shipping market. A combination of decision-making techniques (i.e. Analytical Hierarchy Process, fuzzy link-based and Evidential Reasoning) are presented to assist intra-regional container service operators in selecting ports of call. The proposed methodology is empirically applied to container services between Malaysian and other nearby Asian ports. While Port Klang is the main gateway to Malaysia, the results show that other Malaysian ports should play a more prominent role in accommodating intra-Asian container services. This research can assist maritime stakeholders in evaluating intra-regional port-to-port liner service configurations. Furthermore, the novel mix of decision-making techniques complements and enriches existing academic literature on port choice and liner service configuration

Evolution of green shipping research: themes and methods

Over the past 30 years, there have been growing concerns on theenvironmental impacts of maritime transportation, which have attractedgreat attention from both academia and practitioners. Understandingdevelopments in this area can help guide future research. We conducteda comprehensive review of green shipping research, comprising 213papers published in transportation journals in SSCI of 2017 over theperiod 1988–2017. We find that research on green shipping hasincreased greatly since 2012, accounting for 77.5% of the reviewedpapers. The main focus today on green shipping was on air pollution,and the classification of green shipping practice, such as technical measures,operational options, market-based measures, and recycling andreusing, is becoming clear. According to the existing studies, futureresearch on green shipping must strengthen technology research tonot only solve practical problems, but also to establish a theoreticalgreen shipping system. Moreover, researchers from different countriescould cooperate with each other to give effective suggestions on settingstandards and laws of green shipping. Finally, we identify the futureresearch themes will focus on setting up green shipping system andlegislation and policy

Comparing measures of competitiveness

In their Europe Agreements with the EU, the Central and Eastern European countries stated their intention of joining the Union. To ease the process of accession these countries must adjust their economies already prior to becoming an EU-member. Agriculture requires special attention, because it still represents a large share of the total economy in these countries. A better understanding of the competitiveness of agricultural products at domestic and EU markets is essential for providing the necessary economic framework to make the process of joining the EU as smooth as possible.Competitiveness can be analyzed at various levels of the economy: at the enterprise level, the sector level, or the level of the entire economy. Several measures exist for each of these levels. This paper focuses on those used for sector analysis. Since the measures commonly employed for this purpose do not deliver the same results, a better understanding of the underlying causes is necessary. This paper discusses the differences between the various indicators. It identifies the factors leading to disagreement in the results obtained. -- G E R M A N V E R S I O N: In den Assoziierungsabkommen mit der EU haben die mittel- und osteuropäischen Länder ihr Interesse an einer EU-Mitgliedschaft bekundet. Um den Integrationsprozeß zu erleichtern, müssen diese Länder ihre Wirtschaft anpassen. Die Landwirtschaft verdient dabei besondere Aufmerksamkeit, da sie einen nicht geringen Anteil an der gesamten wirtschaftlichen Leistung erbringt. Kenntnis über die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit landwirtschaftlicher Produkte dieser Länder ermöglicht es, die ökonomischen Voraussetzungen für einen möglichst reibungslosen Übergang in die EU zu erreichen. Wettbewerbsfähigkeit läßt sich auf verschiedenen Stufen der Wirtschaft messen; auf betrieblicher Ebene, für einen Sektor oder für die gesamte Volkswirtschaft. Auf jeder dieser Stufen gibt es verschiedene Indikatoren. In diesem Diskussionspapier werden solche Indikatoren beschrieben, die zur Messung der Wettbewerbsfähigkeit auf sektoraler Ebene herangezogen werden können. Da sich die Meßzahlen unterscheiden und auch nicht zwingend die gleichen Ergebnisse liefern, ist die Kenntnis der Gründe für diese Abweichungen in den Ergebnissen sehr wichtig. Dieses Papier untersucht und beschreibt die Faktoren, die zu derartigen Unterschieden führen.

The development of river-based intermodal transport: the case of Ukraine

It should be noted that the (inland waterway transport) IWT in Ukraine currently is in its infancy in comparison with other land based transport means (rail and road) and with other countries that possess navigable rivers. This paper is an extension of the research initiated by Grushevska and Notteboom (2015) where the concepts of intermediacy and centrality were introduced in order to assess the role of Ukraine in the global and regional transport networks. The list of key obstacles for Ukraine’s intermediacy function included IWT related barriers such as: (i) deficient inland waterway infrastructure, (ii) high IWT costs (fees for bridges, locks etc.) and (iii) pilotage charges. To date the transportation to/from ports is mainly fulfilled by road or by rail based multimodal transport solutions. We present the unutilized potential of Ukrainian IWT that needs to be efficiently exploited for the benefit of the national economy and national transport system. This study intends to enrich the limited academic research on IWT systems in a transition stage, as exemplified by the case of Ukraine

Competitiveness of China's Guangxi Beibu Gulf Port: resource-based and institutional perspectives

Guangxi Beibu Gulf Port is a crucial window connecting the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, an international passage to ASEAN. This study attempts to take the Guangxi Beibu Gulf Port as the object of study, explore its port competitiveness from the perspectives of resource theory and institutional environment. This study used two sets of data which are official data of thirteen ports in 2010-2016 years and the first hand data collected from the port operators by the self-reported questionnaire.First of all, based on governmental data of thirteen ports including Beibu Gulf Port, Shanghai Port, Yantian Port and etc.from year 2010 to year 2016, the port competitiveness of Guangxi Beibu Gulf Port is comprehensively analyzed by making empirical test about the influence of port resources and institutional environment on port competitiveness, combining with the questionnaire and other first-hand materials. Second, to further valide and explain the findings from official data, this study used self-reported questionnaires to collect first-hand data from the port operators. Analyses of the two sets of data reveal the following findings. 1) the overall competitiveness of Beibu Gulf port is weak; 2) Beibu Gulf port competitiveness and port throughput are positively correlated; 3) the port resources of Beibu Gulf have not all significantly positively affecting the port competitiveness; 4) the institutional environment of Beibu Gulf port has not been able to regulate the relationship between port resources and port competitiveness; 5) the institutional environment of Beibu Gulf port has a positive regulating effect on port competition and port throughput. This study proposes relevant policies and suggestions to improve Beibu Gulf port competitiveness.O Guangxi Beibu Gulf Port é um importante porto de entrada para a Rota da Seda Marítima do Século XXI e o Cinturão Económico da Rota da Seda, além de ser um portal internacional para a ASEAN. Este artigo tenta usar o Guangxi Beibu Gulf Port como objeto de pesquisa para explorar a competitividade portuária do porto de Guangxi Beibu Gulf na perspectiva da teoria dos recursos e do ambiente institucional. Este estudo usou dois conjuntos de dados. Dados em primeira mão de operadores portuários coletados por dados oficiais e questionários auto-relatados para 13 portos para 2010-2016. Primeiro, usando os dados oficiais de 13 portos em Beibu Gulf, Shanghai Port e Yantian Port de 2010 a 2016, foi construído um modelo de análise empírica do impacto dos recursos portuários e do ambiente de políticas portuárias na competitividade portuária. Com base no questionário e em outros dados de primeira mão, foi realizada uma análise abrangente da competitividade do porto de Guangxi Beibu Gulf. Em segundo lugar, a fim de aprofundar o estudo e explicar os resultados dos dados oficiais, este estudo utilizou um questionário auto-relatado para coletar dados em primeira mão dos operadores portuários. Os resultados da análise dos dois conjuntos de dados revelaram: 1) A competitividade global do Porto do Golfo de Beibu é fraca; 2) A competitividade do Beibu Gulf Port está positivamente correlacionada com o rendimento do porto; 3) As variáveis dos recursos portuários do Beibu Gulf não afetaram de forma significativa e positiva a competitividade portuária; 4) O ambiente institucional do porto de Beibu Gulf não ajustou significativamente positivamente a relação entre os recursos portuários e a competitividade portuária; 5) O ambiente institucional do Beibu Gulf Port tem um efeito de ajuste positivo na relação entre a concorrência portuária e o rendimento do porto. Com base nisso, este estudo propõe recomendações políticas relevantes para melhorar a competitividade do porto do Golfo de Beibu