What does 40 years of regional and business competitiveness in tourism research reveal?

Purpose This study aims to analyze the existing empirical literature on regional and business competitiveness in tourism to identify and classify the main themes in this knowledge domain and suggest a future research agenda. Design/methodology/approach The authors identified the main themes in the existing research and research gaps through a systematic review of 62 empirical studies from 1980 to 2020. Findings The literature review allowed the authors to identify three main themes: cooperation networks, business strategies and regional development. A conceptual model is developed based on this typology, and a future research agenda is proposed. Originality/value Despite the diverse contributions of the literature on the value of tourism for destinations' competitiveness, there is a lack of empirical evidence of companies' competitiveness in the tourism sector and tourist destinations. The present study contributes to the systematic evidence of these practices and identifies relevant factors for policy making to improve tourist destinations' competitiveness.