The Impact of Tourism Specialization on Tourism Competitiveness in Provinces of Iran: An Application of Spatial Econometrics

The unequal distribution of facilities, demand and supply of tourism in provinces of Iran is due to the different levels of tourism competitiveness in provincial. One of the reasons that can have a significant effect on this difference is the specialization of different subdivisions of the tourismsector in the provinces. But because of the indirect effects and the various behaviors of local governments in the specialization of tourism, the relationship between this specialization and the competitiveness in tourism is not necessarily the samedirection. This study aimed to investigate the impact of tourism specialization (by separating production specialization, accommodation specialization, travel agencies specialization and tour services specialization) on the tourism competitiveness between provinces of Iran using spatial panel econometrics. Data were collected for 31 provinces during the period 2011-2016. The results of Spatial autoregressive (SAR) showed that besides the accommodation specialization, other indicators of tourism specialization had a positive and significant impact on tourism competitiveness. Both demand-side indicators (including indexes of tourism demand, travel agency specialization and tour services specialization) and supply-side indicator (production specialization) has a positive and significant relationship with tourism competitiveness. Not significant of accommodation specialization can be from the consequence of the indirect and widespread effects that led to a deviation of investment in accommodation facilities and especially in the hotel industry. Also, the results of the spatial model on “specialization of tour services” index show that overnight stays of tourists in the border provinces are higher than the central provinces (including Tehran, Alborz, Qom, Qazvin, Markazi, Isfahan and Yazd). This conclusion, for the index of tour services specialization, indicates the weakness of these services in performance as an advanced means of attracting tourists and enhancing tourism sustainability in destination provinces.