See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/351591346

SWOT analysis

Chapter · May 2021

CITATIONS READS
0 3,658

2 authors:

Dag Øivind Madsen Tonny Stenheim

University of South-Eastern Norway University of South-Eastern Norway
85 PUBLICATIONS   817 CITATIONS    38 PUBLICATIONS   286 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

The Diffusion and Translation of Concepts on Managing in the Nordic Countries View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Dag Øivind Madsen on 14 May 2021.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

SWOT analysis

Dag Øivind Madsen, School of Business, University of South-Eastern Norway,

[email protected]
Tonny Stenheim, School of Business, University of South-Eastern Norway,
[email protected]

Preprint version

Please cite as: Madsen, D.Ø. & Stenheim, T. 2022. SWOT analysis. In Buhalis, D. (ed.),
Encyclopedia of Tourism Management and Marketing, Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, UK.

Keywords: SWOT analysis, Strategic analysis; Strategic planning; Strategic goals; Tourism
development; Organising framework

SWOT analysis has since its introduction in the 1960s been one of the most popular frameworks
and tools in the field of strategic management (Madsen, 2016). The SWOT analysis framework
is a situational analysis allowing for an assessment of an organisation’s current status and
future prospects. The four letters of the SWOT acronym stand for Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities, and Threats. It is possible to break SWOT into two parts: SW and OT. The SW
part of the SWOT focuses on internal resources and capabilities, and the OT part on the
external business environment. Strengths and opportunities are positive characteristics that
increase the likelihood of the organization reaching its goals. Conversely, weaknesses and
threats are negative characteristics that have a negative impact on strategic goal achievement.
These insights can then be used in the strategy formulation process. The framework is highly
actionable. Based on the analysis, users can, for example, take actions to minimise or neutralise
threats, and try to turn weaknesses into strengths. Figure 1 provides an example of SWOT
analysis of a generic tourist destination.
 Strengths Weaknesses
Geographical proximity to other
Poor resource management
destinations
Lack of skilled employees
Affordability
Lack of adequate facilitaties
Cultural and historical heritage
Lack of technological infrastructure
Resource wealth

SWOT
Opportunities Threats
Local and foreign investment Terrorism
Supportive government Pandemics and health concerns
Signing of free trade agreements Overcrowding
Growing middle class Social and political instablity

Figure 1: Example of a SWOT analysis of a generic tourism destination

SWOT analysis is a highly flexible framework that can be applied at different levels of analysis,
ranging from the individual level (e.g., Personal SWOT) to the international level (Madsen,
2016). Moreover, it can be applied at different scales, and various levels of quantification and
rigour. SWOT analysis has been frequently applied by organizations in a wide range of sectors
of the economy, including the tourism and hospitality industry. For example, SWOT analysis can
be used at the level of the individual tourism organization to formulate and devise a strategy to
compete more effectively in the marketplace. It can also be used at the industry level in a
country (e.g., a national tourism industry), the regional level (a region’s tourism industry), or at
the international levels of analysis (e.g., the international cruise industry).
There are several illustrative examples of how SWOT has been applied in the tourism and
hospitality research literature. In paper published nearly 20 years ago, Wall (2002) noted that
the topic was relatively unexplored at the time, except for a few scattered studies conducted
during the 1990s. Another study by Kartakoullis and Karlis (2002) used SWOT analysis to
examine the possibilities of greater focus on sport tourism in Cyprus. They carried out focus
groups where they induced and stimulated participants to discuss the state of tourism in
Cyprus, before they proceeded by asking more specific questions related to the four categories
of the SWOT framework. Hung (2013) followed a similar focus group approach to understand
the Chinese hotel industry, and had representatives from a wide range of hospitality-related
organizations participate in focus group discussions to elicit views on the strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing the industry in the future.
In some studies, SWOT analysis is used to analyse in detail a specific industry such as cruises or
medical tourism. Chong (2014) adopted SWOT analysis as a framework to analyse the cruise
industry of Malaysia. Mohezar et al. (2017) also utilised SWOT analysis to evaluate status and
prospects of the Islamic medical tourism market. In this study, the authors used semi-
structured interviews with managers of the Islamic compliant hospitals. Based on the analysis,
they gained knowledge about the industry and how to tap into a growing form of tourism.
There are also examples of SWOT analysis being used for regional tourism development. Wall
(2002) used SWOT analysis to examine the status and potential for tourism in a region in China.
McDowall and Wang (2009) examined tourism development in Thailand in the period 1994-
2007. They adopted SWOT analysis as a framework to analyse and evaluate the state of Thai
tourism.
Yu and Huimin (2005) provides an example of how SWOT analysis can be utilized within the
hotel industry. In this study, the authors evaluated the hotel industry in China, which at the
time was undergoing big reforms. They utilised the SWOT framework to discuss the status of
the hotel reforms by identifying relevant factors in four categories of the SWOT framework. In
particular, the analysis revealed important opportunities for further development as well as key
challenges related to hotel operations.
In conclusion, SWOT analysis can be a useful tool at the organizational, national and
international levels of analysis. SWOT analysis is a versatile organising framework that enables
managers to interpret relevant information and to carry out rather systematic analyses and
evaluations in a cost-effective way. Furthermore, the output from a SWOT analysis is highly
actionable. It helps managers discover relevant issues and problems, and it has useful
attention-directing effects. It can be useful to propose solutions and to stake out a course. For
tourism managers, it provides an overview of the various factors shaping the future
competitiveness of their particular tourism organization, or the tourism industry at different
levels of analysis (e.g. regional, national or international).
In closing, it is important to keep in mind that SWOT analysis has shortcomings. Critics typically
argue that it is a relatively simplistic and unsophisticated tool (Madsen, 2016). The analyses
tend to be qualitative and subjective, especially when it comes to assigning a phenomenon to a
particular category of the SWOT framework. As a result, the analysis could be biased. Another
problem is that the analyses are snapshots and static. In an era of COVID-19 and other external
shocks, the analyses may quickly become obsolete. However, if used carefully, SWOT analysis
can be a useful and easy-to-understand strategic tool for managers in the tourism and
hospitality industry. It can help managers to make sense of increasingly competitive and
dynamic business environments. Using SWOT analysis enables managers to paint an overall
picture of the current status and future prospects and develop courses of actions to achieve
long-term strategic goals.
 References
CHONG, K. 2014. Cruise tourism in Malaysia: A SWOT analysis. Theory and Practice in
Hospitality and Tourism Research, 189.
HUNG, K. 2013. Understanding China's hotel industry: a SWOT analysis. Journal of China
Tourism Research, 9, 81-93.
KARTAKOULLIS, N. L. & KARLIS, G. 2002. Developing Cyprus as a sport tourism destination: the
results of a SWOT analysis. Journal of Sport Tourism, 7, 3-17.
MADSEN, D. Ø. 2016. SWOT Analysis: A Management Fashion Perspective. International Journal
of Business Research, 16, 39-56.
MCDOWALL, S. & WANG, Y. 2009. An analysis of international tourism development in
Thailand: 1994–2007. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 14, 351-370.
MOHEZAR, S., MOGHAVVEMI, S. & ZAILANI, S. 2017. Malaysian Islamic medical tourism market:
a SWOT analysis. Journal of Islamic Marketing.
WALL, G. 2002. A SWOT analysis of tourism in Baoting, Hainan, China. International Journal of
Tourism Sciences, 2, 37-48.
YU, L. & HUIMIN, G. 2005. Hotel reform in China: a SWOT analysis. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant
Administration Quarterly, 46, 153-169.

View publication stats