The location as an influencing factor of competitiveness: the hotel industry in the Douro region

Abstract

The tourism sector has become one of the main economic activities at world and national level. The changes that have been observed in recent years in this sector, in terms of destinations, products and tourists, necessarily have implications in terms of the tourist supply, which must become increasingly diverse, unique and satisfying the needs of demand. The hotel industry, as an important subsector of tourism, is forced to compete and adjust to the market in order to survive. Competitiveness at the level of this subsector arises when it is able to attract and satisfy customers in order to gain a competitive advantage over their competitors. However, competitive advantage is associated with a number of internal and external competitive factors, with location being one of the main external competitive factors. This research has the main objective to understand the importance attributed to the location as a factor of competitiveness of a destination, by the regional stakeholders of the Douro region. It is concluded that location is a central factor for competitiveness in hotels and has a clear influence on the definition of external and internal competitiveness factors of a destination.