COMPETITIVE DESTINATION ANALYSIS: SUNNY BEACH, BULGARIA: A CLUSTER APPROACH

During the past six years the sun-sea-sand tourism in Bulgaria has experienced an average annual growth of 15.3%, thus generating some 75% of the national tourism receipts. Both an outcome and a propelling factor, the available accommodation in the major seaside resorts has boosted by 20-25% on a year-to-year basis, thus surpassing the demand level increase by some 10-12%. In the meantime, symptoms for loss of overall destination competitiveness as regards current tendencies in the global tourism industry have been identified, thus revealing critical deficiencies in the existing planning and management models of the major Bulgarian coastal destinations. The study reflects the multidimensional analysis approach endorsed by authors such as Moutinho (2000), Toledo et el. (2000) and Crouch and Ritchie (2003), so providing a profound look into the multiple factors determining the destination?s degree of competitiveness. As a consequence, the applied methodology allowed for an exhaustive analysis of the dynamics of the destination?s current development, amplifying in this way the span of the study beyond tourism-specific aspects.