With the rapid growth tourism industry experienced since 1990, the tourism supply chain management (TSCM) has emerged as a new field of theoretical and practical importance. As destinations determine the success of the industry, there is increasing competition among countries, making tourism strategy a key element in TSCM. Addressing a void in TSCM studies, the manufacturing strategy index (MSI) analytical models were used in this research to evaluate the tourism strategy of country competitiveness, from three distinct strategy options, namely, prospector, anaylser and defender. Given that there is a noticeable difference between developed and developing countries in the global competitive rankings of tourism destinations, the study was carried out in Singapore and Sri Lanka for better comparison purpose. A survey instrument with stratified purposive sampling was used to collect data from a total of 120 senior level respondents, 60 in each country to determine their prioritizing between four competitive attributes, quality (Q), cost (C), time/delivery (T) & flexibility (F). The multi-attribute competitiveness priorities were used in the MSI analytical models which indicated a prospector strategy for Singapore and a defender strategy for Sri Lanka. These results matched and explained the competitive realities of the two destinations, thereby extending the applicability of MSI analytical models (which were originally developed for manufacturing sector) to evaluate the tourism strategy of a country for competitiveness.

KEY WORDS: MSI analytical models, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tourism strategy, TSCM, Country competitiveness.