Investigating Destination Competitiveness through Customer Value in Scuba Diving Tourism

Abstract

Most destination competitiveness models are derived from a suppliers’ perspective, even those that recognise the demand as an important element of the competitiveness of a destination. Some of these studies have investigated competitiveness from a demand perspective based on destination attributes, but these attributes were derived initially from a supplier’s perspective. This study takes an alternative perspective; that the ability to provide superior value to the customer is critical to destination competitiveness. It addresses a gap in the literature of destination competitiveness by focusing on tourists’ perspectives of value. The research investigates customer value in destination competitiveness in the context of SCUBA diving tourism, a niche tourism market using mixed-methods making use of a multi method approach deploying face-to-face interviews and online surveys. In the first stage, interviews (n=34) were conducted in four popular SCUBA diving destinations in Australia and Thailand from August to October of 2015. Using thematic analysis, a total of eighty-four destination attributes were mapped. Analysis of the results indicated that the most relevant attributes were related to SCUBA diving services, underwater fauna and environmental conditions of the dive sites. These interviews sought to cover SCUBA divers with different profiles to gather a maximal range of destination attributes. Respondents with little diving experienced were unable to express many destinations attributes due to their lack of experience. The second stage explored the relative importance of the destination attributes from the perspective of SCUBA diving tourists (n=712). Certified SCUBA divers completed an online questionnaire containing closed and open-ended questions. Data collection took place from January to June of 2016. Among the fifty-two destination attributes used in the second stage, the most important were (1) professional operations, (2) variety and abundance of marine life, (3) quality and environmental conditions of the dive sites, (4) environmental commitment of the dive operator, and (5) friendly staff/casual atmosphere. The least important destination attributes were (a) opportunity to dive in a cave, (b) popularity/fame as a diving destination, (c) adventure activities, (d) opportunity to dive on an artificial reef, and (e) entertainment activities and facilities. Further, this research also investigated to what extent the levels of diving experience and travel experience influenced the importance given to destination competitiveness attributes. A series of analytical procedures were used, including descriptive analysis, principal components analysis, cluster analysis, cross-tabulation and analysis of variance with post-hoc pairwise comparison. Regarding the level of diving experience, this study identified three groups: low, medium and highly experienced divers, each with different importance rankings of destination attributes. Among these three groups, six of ten destination competitiveness factors (groups of attributes) differed significantly (p<.05): diving operations, diving conditions, destination management, diving training, general tourist attraction and visa policy, while four factors: risk perception, price, big wildlife encounters and technical diving, did not differ significantly (p > .05). Diving operations, diving conditions, destination management, diving training, general tourist attractions and visa policy were significantly (p < .05) more important for low experience divers. On the other hand, technical diving emerged as more important to the highly experienced group than the medium experience group. Regarding the level of travel experience, this study also identifies three groups: low, medium and high travel experience. Among the three groups, seven of ten destination competitiveness factors (groups of attributes) differed significantly (p <.05): diving operations, risk perception, destination management, price, diving training and service, general tourist attraction and visa policy. No significant difference between groups (p >.05) was found for diving conditions, big wildlife encounters and technical diving. These results indicate that the ranking of the importance of destination competitiveness factors also changed according to the level of travel experience. Further, apart from price, all significant factors presented the same trend: the higher the travel experience, the lower the importance given to the destination competitiveness factor. This trend suggested evidence of a career pattern about the importance given to destination competitiveness factors. The results indicate that the investigation of destination competitiveness through customer value provides a useful and innovative approach to examine competition among destinations in the same niche market. Therefore, this study provided evidence that destination competitiveness should incorporate destination attributes that tourists in a niche (and sub-niches) value as part of a successful trip.