In the field of regional economics, Porter’s cluster and competitiveness theory has been popular to policy makers and researchers in order to enhance regional and national competitiveness. This popularity goes to tourism policies as well. However, Porter’s cluster theory could not be free from critiques with regard to definition, methodology, and application. The main critiques have given to a vague definition and methodology to identify a cluster, and the absence of consideration of multinational activities in the globalized world. Some of tourism researchers adopted Porter’s model for tourism competitiveness and cluster policy without critiques. Therefore, this paper revisits the origin of the cluster theory and its critiques. It also aims to suggest the application of Porter’s cluster theory in tourism development by criticizing previous application from a globalization perspective and suggesting some considerations to apply Porter’s cluster theory in tourism context for practitioners, policy makers, and researchers.
Ⅰ. Introduction
Ⅱ. Overview of Cluster Theory
Ⅲ. Critiques of Porter's Cluster Theory
Ⅳ. Application of Cluster Theory in Tourism
Ⅴ. Suggestions and Conclusion
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