Quality Tourism Supply and Destination Competitiveness: The Sequential Mediating Roles of Local Resource Integration and Authenticity

This study investigates how quality tourism supply contributes to destination competitiveness through the sequential mediating roles of local resource integration and perceived authenticity within a sustainability-oriented tourism framework. Building upon the Resource-Based View and destination competitiveness theory, the study proposes and empirically tests a sequential mediation model in which local resource integration and perceived authenticity explain the mechanisms through which quality tourism supply contributes to destination competitiveness. Data were collected through a survey of 430 tourism stakeholders, including representatives of hotels, restaurants, tourism boards, travel agencies, rural tourism enterprises, and local producers. The data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) implemented in SmartPLS 4. The findings indicate that quality tourism supply positively influences local resource integration and destination competitiveness, while local resource integration significantly enhances perceived authenticity. Perceived authenticity, in turn, positively affects destination competitiveness. The results also confirm significant individual and sequential mediation effects, demonstrating that tourism quality generates stronger competitive advantages when destinations effectively integrate local resources and foster authentic tourism experiences. The proposed model demonstrated substantial explanatory power, explaining 45.9% of the variance in local resource integration (R2 = 0.459), 50.7% of the variance in perceived authenticity (R2 = 0.507), and 63.1% of the variance in destination competitiveness (R2 = 0.631). The study contributes to the destination competitiveness literature by introducing local resource integration as a strategic mediating construct and by integrating quality, authenticity, and competitiveness within a unified analytical framework. The findings provide theoretical contributions to destination competitiveness research and practical implications for destination managers and policymakers seeking to promote sustainable and competitive tourism development through place-based and community-oriented approaches.