Strategic Management and Competitive Advantage in Hospitality and Tourism Consulting: A Critical Review

This critical review examines how strategic consultants advise hospitality and tourism organizations in developing and maintaining competitive advantage in an increasingly dynamic and complex global market. Using recent empirical studies, the paper explores the application of four key strategic frameworks: Porter’s Five Forces, the Resource-Based View (RBV) and dynamic capabilities, Blue Ocean Strategy, and innovation-driven differentiation. The review emphasizes that while each framework offers unique strategic insights, applying them alone often fails to address the industry's multifaceted challenges. Instead, the findings support a hybrid, context-sensitive consulting approach that combines external threat analysis with internal capability development and value innovation. The paper concludes with practical implications for consulting practice and suggests future research directions, including framework integration, long-term impact evaluations, and the role of governance in sustaining innovation. This review advances the ongoing discussion on strategic management in hospitality by integrating theory and practice through the lens of contemporary consultancy.