Abstract
The objective of the present work is to develop the validation process of a new instrument for measuring the competitiveness of tourism service companies (MCTE). The instrument consists of seven dimensions: Characteristics and tourism vocation, Routine and process management, Continuous improvement management, Human capital management, Market-customer management, Opportunity for Social Impact and development, and Evaluation of benefits. It can be used as an input to be applied at the national level in Mexico and Latin America. The validity of the instrument was conducted using Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulation, thus providing greater certainty about the usefulness of the MCTE in different sizes and types of companies. Respondents were directives of 267 enterprises based in México and Perú, mainly hotels, restaurants and tour operators. Results confirm the validity and reliability of the proposed instrument and thus support the proposed theoretical model. In conclusion in the digital era, when data becomes so important for knowledge and development, tourism enterprises in México and Perú, are still in a wide variety of development stages and without the habit to gather and share competitiveness information. The proposed measurement instrument might be helpful to do so.
