MARKET SHARE AS A TOURIST DESTINATIONS COMPETITIVENESS MEASURE: ... 423 Cuadernos de Turismo, 34, (2014), 423-425 Cuadernos de Turismo, nº 34, (2014); pp. 423-425 Universidad de Murcia ISSN: 1139-7861 MARKET SHARE AS A TOURIST DESTINATIONS COMPETITIVENESS MEASURE: SENSE AND LIMITATIONS José F. Perles-Ribes Ana B. Ramón-Rodríguez Martín Sevilla-Jiménez Universidad de Alicante jose.perles@ua.es, anar@ua.es, martin.sevilla@ua.es Destination competitiveness can be understood as a general concept that encompasses price differentials coupled with exchange rate movements, productivity levels of various components of the tourist industry and qualitative factors affecting the attractiveness or otherwise of a destination. The competitiveness of an industry is a critical determinant of how well it performs in world markets (Dwyer, Forsyth and Dwyer, 2010). Competitiveness is a relative and multidimensional concept which can be associated to four different perspectives: comparative advantages or competitiveness through pric- ing, a strategic or direction perspective, a historical or sociocultural perspective and the development of national competitiveness indicators (Spence & Hazard, 1998). Applied to tourism destinations, competitiveness seems to be linked to the capacity of a destination to provide goods and services that are superior in aspects valued by tourists to those offered by competitor destinations (Dwyer & Kim, 2003). Destination competitiveness has become an increasingly important issue because competition from emerging tourist destinations and the changing tastes of tourists have challenged tourist destinations (Dwyer, Forsyth & Dwyer, 2010). Many studies (see, for example, Enright & Newton, 2004; Kozak & Rimmington, 1999; Perles, Ramón & Sevilla, 2011) have attempted to measure the competitiveness of tourist destinations. Nowadays, the Tourism and Travel Competitiveness Index (TTCI) of World Economic Forum is the most popular destination competitiveness indicator. The TTCI aims to measure the factors and policies that make it attractive to develop the Tourism & Travel sector in different countries. This index is based on three broad categories of variables that facilitate or drive Tourism and Travel competitiveness. These categories are summarized into the three subindexes of the Index: (1) the Tourism and Travel regulatory framework subindex; (2) the Travel and Tourism business environment and infrastructure subindex; and (3) the Tourism and Travel human, cultural, and natural resources subindex. Finally, each of