EVALUATING THE IMPACT OF SUSTAINABLE TOURISM PRACTICES ON DESTINATION COMPETITIVENESS A STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELING APPROACH

Abstract

Sustainable tourism has emerged as one of the major influencers of the long-term competitiveness of tourism destinations in a global environment that is sensitive to sustainable development. The present work aims to analyze the effects of sustainable tourism practices on destination competitiveness by conducting Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to measure the mediating variables between economic, environmental, and socio-cultural sustainability and competitiveness indicators. Questionnaires and interviews targeted tourists, various tourism-related businesses, and government authorities to allow for a balanced and inclusive perspective on the importance of sustainability for increasing the appeal of the destination. The reliability of the measurement model is confirmed by Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), and Analysis of the structural model by means of the Structural Equation Model (SEM) setting approves the statistical relevance of different aspects of sustainability in defining tourism competitiveness.