CLUSTERING SILK ROAD COUNTRIES BASED ON COMPETITIVENESS FACTORS IN TOURISM INDUSTRY - Tourism in Central Asia: Cultural Potential and Challenges - page 213

infrastructure (Mean 1 = 2.40, Mean 2 = 4.20; t = −5.962; p = 0.000), human
resources (Mean 1 = 4.89, Mean 2 = 5.21; t = -2.652; p = 0.015), natural
resources (Mean 1 = 2.98, Mean 2 = 3.76; t = -2.847; p = 0.010), cultural
resources (Mean 1 = 2.42, Mean 2 = 4.60; t = -5.590; p = 0.000).
As can be noted in Table 3, Cluster 1 countries have a higher score
(Mean 1 = 4.82, Mean 2 = 4.10; t = 3.595; p = 0.002) in price competitive-
ness in T&T industry pillar than Cluster 2 countries. This result implies
that in attracting travelers Cluster 1 countries offer more advantageous
prices in terms of goods and services, airfare ticket taxes, airport charges,
fuel prices, relative cost of hotel accommodations, and traveler related tax-
ation in the country. To understand which countries in this cluster caused
the difference in price competitiveness, we averaged the 4-year score of
the T&T Competitiveness Index (TTCI) for all the 23 countries in both the
clusters.

TABLE 3 t-test Results for Cluster Membership and Travel & Tourism Competitiveness

Pillars.

Pillars Cluster Mean Std. Deviation t P

T&T Regulatory Framework

Policy rules and regulations 1 4.04 0.257 -2.530 0.019

2 4.45 0.508

Environmental sustainability 1 3.86 0.181 -4.148 0.002

2 4.44 0.387

Safety and security 1 4.71 0.620 -0.288 0.776

2 4.78 0.560

Health and hygiene 1 4.78 0.922 -3.512 0.002

2 6.01 0.614

Prioritization of travel & tourism 1 4.00 0.628 -1.911 0.070

2 4.47 0.485

T&T Business Environment and Infrastructure
Air transport infrastructure 1 2.72 0.551 -4.279 0.000

2 3.83 0.689

Ground transport infrastructure 1 3.20 0.568 -3.548 0.002

2 4.34 0.970