Sectoral tourism concentration in the context of the regional policy

Abstract

The main goal of the article is to evaluate the importance of regional competitiveness of tourism as a factor of regional growth. The starting point is to examine the operation of cluster tourism organizations in the identified natural clusters of tourism. By calculating the location quotient, we obtain an overview of the concentration of the tourism sector in the Slovak regions and, by applying shift-share analysis, we explain the impact of regional competitiveness in tourism on regional growth and profiling of regional specialization in tourism. The existing cluster tourism organizations do not copy the sectoral tourism concentration in the regions. Only three tourist regions where cluster organizations operate are characterized by regional competitiveness in the context of the profiling of tourism specialization. The justification for the questionable action of cluster tourism organizations and their public funding is a challenge for the formulation of a cluster and regional tourism policy.