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The purpose of this research is to examine the influence of travel and tourism competitiveness (measured by the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index [TTCI]) on the national economic competitiveness of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries (measured by the Global Competitiveness Index [GCI]). The aim is to identify critical factors for improving competitiveness of SAA countries from the area of tourism competitiveness. The study was conducted using the following methods: regression, cluster and grey relational analysis (GRA). Results reveal that travel and tourism competitiveness has a high impact on national competitiveness in the analysed group of countries. The study identified three homogeneous groups within SSA countries according to the TTCI pillars. The different impact of the TTCI on the GCI is determined in each of these three homogeneous groups of countries. The outcomes of this study could provide recommendations for tourism development policy-makers in SSA countries based on the results of GRA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Macroeconomic business conditions in Serbia are still quite unfavourable in the post-recession period. Data submitted by the Serbian Business Registers Agency show that the number of newly established entrepreneurs in Serbia, in 2010, is for the first time less than the number of those that have gone out of business over that year. These data were the basis for the analysis of constraints and factors that brought about this situation. The high mortality rate of entrepreneurial ventures indicates the presence of a large number of problems that limit the development of entrepreneurship in Serbia. A survey carried out on entrepreneurs and managers of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by the Republic Agency for Development of small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurs (SMEEs) revealed key constraints for their expansion, such as: lack of financial resources, administrative obstacles, insufficient qualified labour, lack of information on markets and technologies, non-compliance with standards and other less significant issues. Therefore, the objective of the paper is to stress the influence of the major problems and restrictions to the development of the entrepreneurial sector in Serbia. Constraints to the growth of entrepreneurship are going to be perceived through the prism of (insufficient) financial investments that the government makes to overcome them. In addition, by statistical analysis methods, it will be tested whether and to what extent each of these factors affect the number of start-ups. Based on the results, certain recommendations to the economic policymakers will be given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]