Management of tourism destination differentiation as a path to competitiveness
Abstract
The differentiation of tourism destinations has shifted from a complementary strategy to a structural imperative for competitiveness, yet the literature has concentrated on resources, governance, and sustainability, leaving the commercial process as an autonomous strategic variable relatively unexplored. This research proposes a model for managing tourism destination differentiation through commercial competences, grounded in the historical-logical, analytical-synthetic, and systemic-structural-functional methods, with a mixed sequential-exploratory approach. The model comprises inputs, three interrelated stages-determination of differentiating elements, management of differentiation, and impact assessment-and outputs, operationalized in eleven steps with qualitative and quantitative techniques. Its main contribution lies in articulating commercial competences as the activating mechanism of the differentiation process, overcoming the theoretical fragmentation identified in previous systemic frameworks. The model integrates sustainability, resilience, and competitive positioning within a continuous improvement cycle, providing decision-makers with a theoretical, methodological, and practical instrument to manage differentiation in tourism destinations, with particular applicability in contexts such as Cuba.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Rubert Delgado Gamboa,Dainaze Esther Calvente Suárez,Graciela María Castellanos Pallerols ,Rosario León Robaina
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