How to achieve economic development through tourism? Different ways for different economies

Abstract

Policy makers and tourism investors have a limited vision of how a certain level of tourism development is possible depending on country-specific conditions such as incomes and competitiveness factors. In this context, the aim of this research is to identify different strategies or solutions, based on different drivers of tourism competitiveness, that lead to tourism development in countries with different levels of per capita income. To this end, the Travel & Tourism Development Index will be used to answer the research questions raised. This paper proposes the use of an alternative methodology such as fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA). As a result, a total of eight different strategies which lead to tourism development have been identified for the different categories considered, identifying the key drivers to achieve such development for the different economies.