CLUSTERING SILK ROAD COUNTRIES BASED ON COMPETITIVENESS FACTORS IN TOURISM INDUSTRY - Tourism in Central Asia: Cultural Potential and Challenges - page 202

INTRODUCTION
Macroeconomic figures in global economies reveal that the volatility of
the macroeconomic environment will persist. In this environment, gov-
ernments' primary concern is to balance macroeconomic figures. In this
sense, tourism has been paid special attention due to its contribution to
GDP and being a source of employment and foreign currency. As stated
in WTTC's 2012 report, over the next ten years the tourism industry is
expected to provide 10% of the global GDP and to account for 1 out of 10
jobs in the world.
Leadership of United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
played a key role in organizing 28 countries from Asia, Europe, and Af-
rica and forming a Silk Road Project. The Silk Road countries are aware
of the importance of the tourism industry for the development of their
macroeconomics. For a project to be successful, it should be competitive
and sustainable in the long run. In this chapter, we intend to disclose how
Silk Road countries can be more competitive and sustainable by analyzing
UNWTO's Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index variables. Analysis
of T&T Competitiveness Index is expected to offer us both the strengths
and the weaknesses of these countries. Furthermore, we aim to cluster the
Silk Road countries and then compare the potential clusters based on T&T
Competitiveness Index variables in order to attain an opinion on which
factors should be more emphasized to be competitive and sustainable in
the long run.
WHY DOES COMPETITION MATTER?
According to Porter (2004) “competitive strategy is the search for a favor-
able competitive position in an industry, the fundamental arena in which
competition occurs. Competitive strategy aims to establish a profitable
and sustainable position against the forces that determine industry compe-
tition” (1). Regarding the national level, “the competitiveness of a nation
is defined as the degree to which it can, under free and fair market condi-
tions, produce goods and services that meet the standards of international
markets while simultaneously expanding the real income of its citizens”
(Artto, 1987; Onsel et al., 2008; Sala-i Martin and Artadi, 2004). While
traditional firms focused mainly on internal productivity, the increased