Identification of Factors contributing to the Competitive Advantage of Tourism Destinations of Iran (Case Study: Chabahar)

Issues regarding Competition first started when Adams Smith published his famous book "Wealth of Nations". Until late 1980s there weren’t any theoretical frameworks for analysis, maintenance, and improvement of the competitiveness of a country or an industry, so all the economic analyses about competitiveness were based on variedindicators. To date, researchers like Porter (1980), Gilbert (1984) and Poon (1993) have proposed various strategies for identification of tourism destination competitiveness factors, but Crouch & Ritchie’s model has been the most comprehensive of all. With the use of Crouch and Ritchie's model, this paper aims to investigate and rank the factors affecting tourism competitive advantage of Chabahar region. The research was performed during theyears 2009 - 2010. Results displayed prioritization of five indices of Crouch and Ritchie's model as following: Destination Policy Planning and Development; Destination Management; Core resources and Attractors; Supporting Factors and Resources; and Qualifying and Amplifying Determinants. Also findings indicated that factors such as climate, beautiful beaches and landscapes, security are among the strength points, while factors like visitor management, crises management, recreation centers, and marketing are of weak points of the region.