Creative Economy Development and Tourism Competitiveness in Local Destinations
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62731/rgjeb.v2i1.15Keywords:
Creative Economy Development, Digital Promotion, Local Destinations, Tourism Competitiveness, Tourism InnovationAbstract
This study aims to examine the effect of creative economy development on tourism competitiveness in local destinations. The research addresses the problem that many local destinations have strong cultural and creative potential but still face challenges in product innovation, digital promotion, stakeholder collaboration, and institutional support. This study used a quantitative explanatory design with primary data collected through a structured questionnaire. The sample consisted of 218 tourists who had visited local destinations and experienced creative economy products or activities, such as local culinary products, crafts, cultural performances, festivals, creative workshops, or digitally promoted local experiences. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling with SPSS 26 and SmartPLS 4. The results show that creative economy development has a positive and significant effect on tourism competitiveness, with a path coefficient of 0.672, t-statistic of 14.287, and p-value of 0.000. The model explains 45.2% of the variance in tourism competitiveness. Digital promotion has the strongest effect, followed by creative product innovation, use of local culture, institutional support, and collaboration among creative actors. The study concludes that creative economy development is an important strategy for strengthening local destination competitiveness. The findings contribute to tourism competitiveness theory and provide practical guidance for local governments, destination managers, and creative economy actors in designing more competitive, culturally grounded, and digitally visible tourism destinations.
References
Abbasi, A. Z., Rather, R. A., Hooi Ting, D., Nisar, S., Hussain, K., Khwaja, M. G., & Shamim, A. (2024). Exploring tourism-generated social media communication, brand equity, satisfaction, and loyalty: A PLS-SEM-based multi-sequential approach. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 30(1), 93–109. https://doi.org/10.1177/13567667221118651
Abromaite, S., Kušlys, M., Correia, R., & Venciūtė, D. (2025). Unveiling the power of culture: A catalyst for tourism growth in OECD countries. Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/19407963.2025.2532168
Afifah, U. N., Suwandana, E., & Lestariningsih, E. (2023). The formulation of tourism industry and creative economy competitiveness index of provinces in Indonesia. International Journal of Applied Sciences in Tourism and Events, 7(1), 16–26. https://doi.org/10.31940/ijaste.v7i1.16-26
Al-Dmour, R., Alkhatib, O. H., Al-Dmour, H., & Amin, E. B. (2023). The influence of social marketing drives on brand loyalty via customer satisfaction as a mediating factor in travel and tourism offices. SAGE Open, 13(2), 21582440231181433. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440231181433
Alamäki, A., Rhee, C., Suomala, J., Kaski, T., & Kauttonen, J. (2023). Creating effective visuals for destination marketing videos: Scenery vs people. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 29(1), 141–157. https://doi.org/10.1177/13567667221114767
Baber, R., & Baber, P. (2023). Influence of social media marketing efforts, e-reputation and destination image on intention to visit among tourists: Application of S-O-R model. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, 6(5), 2298–2316. https://doi.org/10.1108/JHTI-06-2022-0270
Bassols, N., & Bonilla, J. (2022). Community-based tourism and destination competitiveness: Bridging the gap. Enlightening Tourism: A Pathmaking Journal, 12(1), 145–176. https://doi.org/10.33776/et.v12i1.5125
Benhaida, S., Safaa, L., Perkumienė, D., & Labanauskas, G. (2024). Creative tourism: Two decades of conceptual evolution and characterization. Administrative Sciences, 14(8), 172. https://doi.org/10.3390/admsci14080172
Cai, G., Xu, L., & Gao, W. (2021). The green B&B promotion strategies for tourist loyalty: Surveying the restart of Chinese national holiday travel after COVID-19. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 94, 102704. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2020.102704
Carvalho, R., Costa, C., & Ferreira, A. (2023). Creative tourism consumption: Framing the creative habitus through a Bourdieusian lens. Sustainability, 15(3), 2281. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032281
Cheung, G. W., Cooper-Thomas, H. D., Lau, R. S., & Wang, L. C. (2024). Reporting reliability, convergent and discriminant validity with structural equation modeling: A review and best-practice recommendations. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 41, 745–783. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-023-09871-y
Dias, Á., González-Rodríguez, M. R., & Patuleia, M. (2023). Creative tourism destination competitiveness: An integrative model and agenda for future research. Creative Industries Journal, 16(2), 180–203. https://doi.org/10.1080/17510694.2021.1980672
Font, X., Torres-Delgado, A., Crabolu, G., Martínez, J. P., Kantenbacher, J., & Miller, G. (2023). The impact of sustainable tourism indicators on destination competitiveness: The European Tourism Indicator System. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 31(7), 1608–1630. https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2021.1910281
Grosso, F. O., Rodriguez-Molina, M. Á., & Castañeda-Garcia, J. A. (2024). The impact of destination-brand social media content on consumer online brand-related activities. Tourism Management Perspectives, 51, 101239. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2023.101239
Hair, J. F., & Alamer, A. (2022). Partial least squares structural equation modeling in second language and education research: Guidelines using an applied example. Research Methods in Applied Linguistics, 1(3), 100027. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rmal.2022.100027
Jhantasana, C. (2023). Should a rule of thumb be used to calculate PLS-SEM sample size? Asia Social Issues, 16(5), e254658. https://doi.org/10.48048/asi.2023.254658
Li, T., Liu, F., & Soutar, G. N. (2021). Experiences, post-trip destination image, satisfaction and loyalty: A study in an ecotourism context. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 19, 100547. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdmm.2020.100547
Mandagi, D. W., Centeno, D. D., & Indrajit. (2021). Brand gestalt scale development and validation: A takeoff from tourism destination branding. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 19, 100539. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdmm.2020.100539
Mandagi, D. W., Indrajit, I., & Wulyatiningsih, T. (2024). Navigating digital horizons: A systematic review of social media’s role in destination branding. Journal of Enterprise and Development, 6(2), 373–389. https://doi.org/10.20414/jed.v6i2.10075
Marujo, N. (2021). Strategies for creative tourism activities in pandemic contexts: The case of the “Saídas de Mestre” project. Sustainability, 13(19), 10654. https://doi.org/10.3390/su131910654
Nematpour, M., Khodadadi, M., Makian, S., & Ghaffari, M. (2024). Developing a competitive and sustainable model for the future of a destination: Iran’s tourism competitiveness. International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Administration, 25(1), 92–124. https://doi.org/10.1080/15256480.2022.2081279
Papadaki, E. (2024). Promoting green tourism synergies with cultural and creative industries: A case study of Greece. Sustainability, 16(2), 633. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16020633
Purwono, R., Esquivias, M. A., Sugiharti, L., & Rojas, O. (2024). Tourism destination performance and competitiveness: The impact on revenues, jobs, the economy, and growth. Journal of Tourism and Services, 15(28), 161–187. https://doi.org/10.29036/jots.v15i28.629
Rheeders, T., & Meyer, D. F. (2023). The development of a regional tourism destination competitiveness measurement instrument. Tourism and Hospitality, 4(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.3390/tourhosp4010001
Sarstedt, M., Adler, S. J., Ringle, C. M., Cho, G., Diamantopoulos, A., Hwang, H., & Liengaard, B. D. (2024). Same model, same data, but different outcomes: Evaluating the impact of method choices in structural equation modeling. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 41(6), 1100–1117. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpim.12738
Thong, J.-Z., Lo, M.-C., Ramayah, T., & Mohamad, A. A. (2023). Revisiting perceived determinants of tourism destination competitiveness among tourists: The case of national parks in Sarawak, Malaysia. Turyzm/Tourism, 33(1), 93–104. https://doi.org/10.18778/0867-5856.33.1.09
Turčinović, I., Vujko, A., & Stanišić, T. (2025). Community-led sustainable tourism in rural areas: Enhancing wine tourism destination competitiveness and local empowerment. Sustainability, 17(7), 2878. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17072878
Zulvianti, N., Aimon, H., & Abror, A. (2022). The influence of environmental and non-environmental factors on tourist satisfaction in halal tourism destinations in West Sumatra, Indonesia. Sustainability, 14(15), 9185. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14159185
Zulvianti, N., Aimon, H., & Abror, A. (2023). Perceived environmental value, destination image, and tourist loyalty: The role of tourist satisfaction and religiosity. Sustainability, 15(10), 8038. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15108038
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Hendra Saputra, Celine Maharani, M. Irfan Hakim (Author)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

