• International Area Studies Review
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.195-222
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• 2017

This exploratory study analyses the factors, sources and effects of the regional competitive advantage of Jeju Island in Korea in global competition era. The competitive advantage of Jeju Province is analysed with the triple diamond model based on Porter's model for the competitive advantage of nations. The competitive advantage factors of Jeju Province are measured through the competitive advantage of the hospitality industry, which is one of the major industries of Jeju Island. These factors include outstanding natural landscape, domestic hospitality industry workforce, social overhead capital, massive domestic and international tourists, growth of related industries such as duty free shops and casinos, and coincidences such as Jeju Olle trail construction and Chinese government's international travel approval. Since these factors are based on local, domestic and international management resources, this study suggests that obtaining such resources is critical among Jeju hospitality industry in gaining the competitive advantage. Although the competitive advantage of Jeju hospitality industry is increasing, the organic connections with the regional economy are required for improvements on Jeju residents' quality of life. This study examines the factors and origins of competitive advantages on a regional level instead of a national level, and further investigates how the characters and origins of these factors affect the local economy. The results suggest that the triple diamond model is suitable for evaluating the regional competitive advantages.