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  • Tourism Policy and Regulation

Tourism Policy and Regulation involves the strategic planning and management of tourism activities to ensure sustainable economic, social, and environmental benefits. Key components include the development of frameworks that govern travel operations, safety standards, and cultural preservation. These regulations are essential for balancing visitor satisfaction with the protection of local communities and ecosystems.

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Which of the following is a step in developing tourism policies?

Which of the following is a challenge faced by Tourism Regulation?

Which elements are included in a successful Tourism Policy?

What is the primary purpose of tourism policies and regulations?

What are the objectives of Tourism Policies?

What is a key focus of Kenya's tourism policy?

What is the primary focus of a Tourism Policy?

What is a primary purpose of Tourism Regulation?

How do effective tourism regulations benefit local communities?

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Definition of Tourism Policy

The framework of a Tourism Policy addresses the growing needs of the tourism industry by adopting measures and guidelines that influence development and decision-making. It consists of strategies laid out by governments and organizations to ensure sustainable and effective growth in the tourism sector. These policies provide a roadmap for balancing tourism's economic benefits with social and environmental responsibilities.

What is Tourism Policy?

Tourism Policy is a set of regulations, frameworks, and strategies aimed at guiding and managing tourism development and promotion. It focuses on enhancing the positive aspects of tourism while mitigating its potential negative impacts. The policy involves collaborations between government entities, private sectors, and the community to create a holistic approach.

  • Guides development of tourism infrastructure
  • Influences marketing and promotion strategies
  • Promotes sustainable tourism practices
  • Ensures tourism benefits local communities

For instance, a tourism policy might prioritize eco-friendly practices such as limiting the number of visitors in sensitive areas or promoting local cultures and traditions to preserve them for future generations.

Effective tourism policy requires input from all stakeholders, including policymakers, business owners, and community members.

Key Elements of Tourism Policy

A successful Tourism Policy encompasses various elements to be effective. These elements play a pivotal role in ensuring comprehensive and balanced tourism development :

  • Legislation: Enforces laws and regulations to guide the tourism industry.
  • Infrastructure Development : Supports the construction of essential facilities like roads and airports.
  • Marketing Strategy: Enhances the visibility and attractiveness of destinations.
  • Sustainability Measures: Places importance on eco-friendly practices to preserve natural resources.
  • Community Involvement: Engages local populations in tourism planning and development.

Diving deeper into legislation, it serves as the backbone of tourism policy by setting standards for quality, safety, and environmental protections. Laws can dictate everything from zoning to licensing, ensuring a framework that supports sustainable growth.

Objectives of Tourism Policies

Tourism Policies are crafted with specific objectives that align with the socio-economic and environmental goals of a nation or region. These objectives provide a structured path toward achieving desired outcomes:

  • Economic Growth: Drive up revenue through increased tourist spending.
  • Employment Opportunities: Create jobs in the hospitality and service sectors.
  • Cultural Preservation: Encourage the protection and celebration of local heritage.
  • Environmental Conservation: Advocate for the sustainable use of environmental resources.
  • Social Benefits: Enhance the quality of life for local communities through improved facilities and services.

Remember, the ultimate goal of a tourism policy is to create a win-win situation where tourists enjoy their experiences, businesses thrive, and communities benefit.

Importance of Tourism Regulation

Tourism Regulation is vital in managing tourism growth and ensuring sustainable development. By implementing rules and guidelines, it helps balance the interests of tourists, businesses, and local communities while protecting cultural and natural resources.

Why Tourism Regulation Matters

Providing structure and oversight in the tourism sector, Tourism Regulation ensures orderly growth and development. It plays a critical role by:

  • Protecting Resources: Safeguards natural and cultural attractions from overuse and damage.
  • Ensuring Safety: Sets standards for the health and safety of tourists and residents.
  • Maintaining Quality: Assures a high level of quality in services and experiences for tourists.
  • Promoting Fair Competition: Prevents monopolies and encourages diverse business opportunities.

An example is the regulation of coastal areas that limit the number of accommodations to prevent beach erosion and preserve marine life, demonstrating the environmental focus of these regulations.

Even if a destination is popular, unregulated tourism can lead to its downfall through overcrowding, pollution, and resource depletion.

Benefits of Effective Tourism Regulation

Effective Tourism Regulation offers numerous advantages, contributing to the sector's development and sustainability:

  • Economic Stability: Provides a consistent revenue stream by preserving attractions long-term.
  • Environmental Protection: Implements eco-friendly policies to minimize tourism's ecological footprint.
  • Social Equity: Ensures fair distribution of tourism benefits among local communities.
  • Increased Tourist Satisfaction: Guarantees high quality and safe experiences, encouraging repeat visits.

The governance of tourism often involves public-private partnerships to leverage resources and expertise from both sectors. These collaborations help provide innovative solutions to regulatory challenges fully integrating diverse perspectives.

Challenges in Tourism Regulation

While essential, Tourism Regulation faces several challenges that can hinder its effectiveness:

  • Overregulation: Can stifle creativity and burden businesses with excessive bureaucracy.
  • Lack of Enforcement: Rules may exist but are not implemented due to limited resources or political will.
  • Cultural Sensitivity: Striking a balance between tourist expectations and local traditions can be difficult.
  • Global Variations: Different standards and practices across countries can complicate regulatory alignment.

A typical regulatory challenge is managing tourism in ecologically sensitive areas like coral reefs, where restrictions are needed, but enforcement is difficult due to vast areas requiring protection.

To overcome these challenges, adaptive regulations that can evolve with changing tourism dynamics are essential.

Tourism Policies and Regulations

Tourism policies and regulations are crucial frameworks that aid in the strategic development and management of the tourism sector. They provide guidelines for creating sustainable, responsible, and inclusive tourism practices that benefit all stakeholders involved.

Developing Tourism Policies

Developing effective tourism policies involves a comprehensive approach that addresses the unique needs of a destination while considering global trends and regulations. The development process typically includes the following steps:

  • Assessment and Analysis: Evaluate current tourism trends , potential resources, and challenges.
  • Stakeholder Engagement: Involve government bodies, private sectors, and local communities in the policy-making process.
  • Goal Setting: Define clear, achievable objectives for sustainable tourism growth.
  • Strategy Development: Formulate strategies to reach the set objectives, considering cultural, economic, and environmental aspects.
  • Policy Drafting: Create detailed policy documents that outline regulations and guidelines.

For example, a region seeking to develop eco-tourism might focus on preserving natural habitats and promoting cultural experiences with minimal environmental impact.

It's essential to regularly review and update tourism policies to adapt to dynamic market conditions and emerging challenges.

Implementing Tourism Regulations

Once tourism policies are developed, they must be effectively implemented through tourism regulations . Implementation includes setting up a regulatory framework that ensures compliance and achieves desired outcomes. Some key elements include:

  • Legislation and Enforcement: Establish laws and ensure they are enforced to maintain order and standards.
  • Capacity Building: Train stakeholders and employees to understand and follow tourism regulations.
  • Monitoring and Evaluation: Continuously assess implementation processes to ensure effectiveness.
  • Public Awareness Campaigns: Educate the public on the importance and benefits of tourism regulations.

An example of implementing tourism regulations can be seen in coastal regions where building codes are enforced to maintain the natural beauty and prevent environmental degradation.

Deep dive into regulatory enforcement reveals that synergy between local government and tourism businesses can enhance compliance rates. This cooperation might include offering incentives for businesses that actively promote sustainable practices .

Evaluating Tourism Policy Effectiveness

The evaluation of tourism policy effectiveness is critical to understand its impact and guide future decision-making. Effective evaluation involves several steps:

  • Performance Metrics: Define clear metrics to measure success against policy goals.
  • Data Collection and Analysis: Collect qualitative and quantitative data to assess impact.
  • Feedback Mechanism: Gather input from stakeholders to understand on-the-ground impacts and challenges.
  • Policy Revision: Use gathered data to make informed adjustments and improvements to policies.

Regular evaluations not only improve policies but also build trust with stakeholders by showing a commitment to continuous improvement.

Global Examples of Tourism Policy and Regulation

Exploring global examples of tourism policy and regulation provides valuable insights into how different regions successfully manage and promote tourism. These examples illustrate strategies that balance economic growth with sustainability and cultural preservation.

Successful Case Studies

Several countries have implemented effective tourism policies that have led to prosperous outcomes. Here are a few notable case studies:

  • Kenyas Ecotourism Policy: Kenya has emphasized sustainable tourism by incorporating eco-friendly practices that protect wildlife and natural landscapes, enhancing the visitor experience while conserving biodiversity.
  • New Zealand's Adventure Tourism Regulations: With strict safety standards and comprehensive training requirements, New Zealand ensures the safety of its adventurous activities, promoting itself as a premier destination for thrill-seekers.
  • France's Cultural Heritage Protection: France has established policies to preserve and promote its vast cultural treasures, boosting tourism while protecting historical sites and traditions.

For example, Kenya's integration of community-based tourism initiatives empowers local populations, providing them with economic benefits and encouraging stewardship of their natural heritage.

A deep dive into New Zealand's adventure tourism reveals a significant impact on local economies, where towns thrive due to increased tourist numbers and associated business opportunities in hospitality and services.

Lessons from International Tourism Policies

International tourism policies offer numerous lessons that can be adapted to other regions. Here are some key takeaways:

  • Sustainability Focus: Prioritizing ecological integrity, as seen in policies from Costa Rica, ensures long-term tourism appeal and environmental protection.
  • Community Involvement: Encouraging community participation in tourism development, as practiced in Bhutan, enhances cultural exchanges and ensures local benefits.
  • Robust Infrastructure: Investments in infrastructure, highlighted by Japan's efficient transport networks, facilitate smoother tourist movement and enhance destination accessibility.

Examining Costa Rica further reveals that their commitment to sustainability extends to incentivizing eco-friendly investments and positioning the country as a leader in responsible tourism .

International policies often reflect a destination's unique characteristics, requiring customized approaches rather than one-size-fits-all solutions.

Comparative Analysis of Tourism Regulations

Comparing tourism regulations across countries highlights similarities and differences in regulatory approaches:

  • Similarities: Most countries implement safety standards and environmental protections.
  • Differences: Focus varies, with some prioritizing cultural preservation while others emphasize economic development.

An example of regulatory differences is how beach destinations like Thailand impose visitor caps to prevent over-tourism, whereas others might focus on infrastructure development to accommodate more tourists.

Tourism Policy and Regulation - Key takeaways

  • Tourism Policy Definition: A framework of regulations and strategies that guide tourism development and promotion for sustainable growth.
  • Importance of Tourism Regulation: Critical for balancing stakeholders' interests and protecting resources sustainably.
  • Key Elements of Tourism Policy: Legislation, infrastructure, marketing, sustainability, and community involvement.
  • Objectives of Tourism Policies: Economic growth, employment, cultural preservation, environmental conservation, and social benefits.
  • Developing Tourism Policies: Includes assessment, stakeholder engagement, goal setting, and strategy development.
  • Global Examples of Tourism Regulation: Kenya's ecotourism, New Zealand's adventure safety standards, and France's cultural heritage protection.

Flashcards in Tourism Policy and Regulation 1220

Eliminating all forms of tourism to preserve natural resources.

Overregulation can stifle creativity

Legislation, infrastructure, marketing, sustainability, community.

To maximize tourism profits without considering environmental impacts.

It guarantees unlimited resources for enforcement

To marginalize cultural aspects and focus only on profits.

Tourism Policy and Regulation

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Policy and Policymaking in Tourism

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aspects of tourism policy

  • Peter U. C. Dieke 3 &
  • Francisco Madrid Flores 4  

Since the 1990s, tourism policy and policymaking have evoked the interest of academics, industry, and communities. Policy is variously used as a synonym for a problem, or a statement of intentions, or indeed a program to deliver services for a stated purpose. Policymaking is an interactive process comprising policy formulation and implementation.

Tourism policy is defined as a “reasoned consideration of alternative options” (Lickorish and Jenkins 1997 : 171). More recently, tourism policy has been interpreted within broader parameters:

macro-governance function, dealing with both sectorial and transversal objectives of tourism. It is comprised of a set of programs, instruments, measures, and actions. Once the spatial and time frames of a policy have been established and analyzed, it is substantial to specify its goals and objectives, its means, and the governance actors involved. (Fayos-Solà 2016 : 733)

In brief, tourism policy is a “set of discourses, decisions, and practices driven by...

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Fayos-Solà, E. 2016. Policy and policymaking. In Encyclopedia of tourism , ed. J. Jafari and H. Xiao, 733–734. New York: Springer.

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Guo, Y., J. Jiang, and S. Li. 2019. A sustainable tourism policy research review. Sustainability 11 (11): 3187.

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Jamal, T., and B. Camargo. 2018. Tourism governance and policy: Whither justice? Tourism Management Perspectives 25: 205–208.

Jenkins, C. 2015. Tourism policy and planning for developing countries: Some critical issues. Tourism Recreation Research 40: 144–156.

———. 2021. Reflections on 50 years of tourism and development. In Tourism in development: Reflective essays , ed. P. Dieke, B. King, and R. Sharpley, 1–12. Wallingford: CABI.

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Lickorish, L., and C. Jenkins. 1997. An introduction to tourism . Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Velasco, M. 2016. Tourism policy. In Global encyclopedia of public administration, public policy, and governance , ed. A. Farazmand. Springer International Publishing AG. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_2674-1 . Springer Nature Switzerland AG, Accessed 17 Dec 2021.

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Dieke, P.U.C., Madrid Flores, F. (2023). Policy and Policymaking in Tourism. In: Jafari, J., Xiao, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Tourism. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01669-6_855-1

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Travel and Tourism Policy and Strategy

Federal travel policies and national strategy.

The National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) in ITA’s Industry and Analysis unit works to enhance the international competitiveness of the U.S. travel and tourism industry and increase its exports, thereby creating U.S. employment and economic growth. One of the ways we do this is through the development and implementation of travel and tourism policy, strategy, and advocacy initiatives through collaboration with domestic and international public and private sector stakeholders.

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UN Tourism | Bringing the world closer

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UN Adopts a New Global Standard to Measure the Sustainability of Tourism

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A groundbreaking statistical framework, developed under the leadership of UN Tourism, has been adopted by all 193 UN member states.

The Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (MST) thus becomes the internationally agreed reference framework for measuring the economic, social and environmental aspects of tourism.

The adoption by the UN Statistical Commission at its 55th session (27 February – 1 March 2024) marks a historical milestone towards harnessing the full potential of the sector, providing a solution to the pressing need for a harmonized methodology to effectively assess the sustainability of tourism.

"Tourism is a powerful force for positive change when managed responsibly and sustainably," says Zurab Pololikashvili, UN Tourism Secretary General. "The adoption of the Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism marks a paradigm shift, going beyond GDP by enabling the measurement of what matters most to people and planet."

The adoption of the Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism marks a paradigm shift, going beyond GDP by enabling the measurement of what matters most to people and planet

Collaborative effort

This achievement is the fruit of a seven-year UN process led by Austria and Spain as co-chairs of the UN Tourism Committee on Statistics, with Saudi Arabia and Seychelles as co-vice chairs.  Under auspices of the Committee, the Framework was developed thanks to the extraordinary work of the multistakeholder Expert Group on Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism composed of 40+ countries and 30+ international and regional organizations including the UN Statistics Division, the International Labour Organization (ILO), subnational authorities and observatories, academia and others.

The work involved technical guidance from an Editorial Board chaired first by the Philippines and then by Canada, as well as extensive engagement and consultation with input from numerous pilots in countries.

The Statistical Commission expressed an overwhelmingly enthusiastic support with 34 countries, 3 world regions and international organizations taking active part in the deliberations: Antigua and Barbuda, Austria, Benin on behalf of the African Group, Cabo Verde, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Finland on behalf of the European Statistical System, Greece, Jamaica, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia on behalf of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Slovenia, Spain, Tajikistan, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, the Committee for the Coordination of Statistical Activities and ILO.  

Looking ahead, the Commission also welcomed the future development of an implementation programme, including a compilation guide, and called on the international donor community to support the financing for measuring the sustainability of tourism.

Established in 1947, the UN Statistical Commission gathers Chief Statisticians from Member States and international organizations, and is the highest decision-making body for international statistical activities. The last time that the Commission adopted a statistical standard for tourism was in 2008, when the International Recommendations for Tourism Statistics and the Tourism Satellite Account framework were presented.

Closing the gap between policy and statistics

In the margins of the United Nations Statistical Commission, Austria, Spain and UN Tourism co-organized the high-level side event “Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism: Closing the gap between policy and statistics”, in collaboration with the UN Committee for Economic-Environmental Accounting. Austria and Spain shared their vision on the importance of the Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism for evidence-based policy and decisions, while acknowledging its significance in upholding the relevance of statistical systems worldwide and the links to key topics like data governance and stewardship.

Mexico, the Philippines and Canada reflected on their pioneering experiences with implementing the framework, showcasing the power of integrating data from different domains and sources to distil more holistic and meaningful information on tourism.

The event raised awareness of the Statistical Framework for MST and functioned as an informative preamble to the UN Statistical Commission’s formal deliberations. 

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  • Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism as presented to the 55th Session of the United Nations Statistical Commission
  • Videos of the 55th Session of the United Nations Statistical Commission, item 4a on tourism statistics: part 1
  • Videos of the 55th Session of the United Nations Statistical Commission, item 4a on tourism statistics: part 2
  • Side Event “Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism: Closing the gap between tourism policy and statistics”
  • Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (MST) programme of work
  • MST Governance

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Tourism Policy, Planning, and Development

General overview.

Tourism policy, planning, and development are all very connected and do not just occur when a geographic area decides to be a tourism destination. Policy, planning, and development are included in numerous aspects of communities.

continue but from different perspectives. An example would be the use of the destination/product lifecycle, discussed later. It is important to understand what tourism planning and development are individually as well as collectively. Planning is essential to effective development. Tourism is not always a beneficial industry for a geographical area, but without planning tourism can damage the area, including natural and cultural resources (Morrison et al., 2018). A destination might consider “Who, What, When, Where, Why” when working on a tourism plan. The same can be considered for tourism development, as well as other topics included in this alternative textbook (e.g., marketing and promotion).

Tourism Policy

A policy is essentially a course of action taken by some organization or institution (e.g., government, business, educational institution). A tourism policy as defined by Edgell et al. (2008) “is a progressive course of actions, guidelines, directives, principles, and procedures set in an ethical framework that is issues-focused and best represents the intent of a community (or nation) to effectively meet its planning, development, product, service, marketing, and sustainability goals and objectives for the future grown of tourism” (p. 7). Stated more simply, Hall and Jenkins (1995) suggest “tourism public policy is whatever governments choose to do nor not to do with respect to tourism” (p. 7-8). A tourism policy is essentially a framework including guidelines, goals, and initiatives to work toward achieving the goals. Where as an act by government, such as the Travel Promotion Act of 2009 establishing Brand USA, is a law or statute.

A policy for international travel is having a current passport and for many countries a Visa. The application for a Visa to visit a foreign country allows countries to approve who may visit the country and not allow individuals for a variety of reasons (e.g., security threat). The U.S also has the Visa Waiver Program, which is an agreement with  40 countries allowing citizens of those countries to visit the U.S. for business or leisure travel purposes for up to 90 days without a Visa, provided they meet other requirements (U.S. Department of State – Bureau of Counsular Affairs, n.d.). The countries with the Visa Waiver Program also allows U.S. residents to travel to the respective countries with fairly similar criteria. The purpose of requiring a Visa is to regulate travel between countries. The Visa Waiver Program is an agreement to allow citizens of certain countries to visit without having to obtain a Visa if certain criteria are met. This essentially makes it easier to travel between the respective countries.

The International Trade Administration includes a Tourism Policy Council (TPC) to ensure national decision-making considers the national interests of travel and tourism (International Trade Administration, n.d.). The TPC provides resources to help with such issues or challenges as recovering from disaster, and links to Center for Disease Control (CDC), and many other potential issues or challenges for travel and tourism in the U.S.

At more local levels, Morrison et al. (2018) suggest tourism destinations can develop policies for development, marketing, tourist experiences, human resource issues, tourism organizations (e.g., structure), relationships throughout the community, quality assurance, and supporting services (e.g., safety and security).

Policy Setting Process

There are a series of recommended steps for the establishing policy (Morrison et al., 2018). First, identifying and assessing the circumstances related to the issue. This includes understanding contraints that you and/or will face. Constraints can be internal (e.g., locals’ awareness of tourism, training and education of employees in hospitality and tourism, budget) or external (e.g., economy,  price of gas, natural disaster). The tourism organization/local industry has more control or ability to do something about internal constraints, while have little or no control over external constraints. For example, nothing can be done about bad weather or if a natural disaster occurs. However, if locals are not aware of tourism in the local community, education and information can be shared to make locals more aware. This step in the process can also make you aware of new opportunities (e.g., an attraction to develop, new target market).

The next step is typically to create a policy statement to provide guidelines, goals, and initiatives to help guide the organization, destination, etc. While not directly a policy statement, most CVB vision statements include something that provides a guideline with somewhat vague goals. For example, it might be to maintain and/or improve the quality of life for residents of the destination by promoting the destination for tourism and conventions, which would include an economic goal. A policy statement for this vision would be more specific with the goals and initiatives identified to fulfill the goals.

Consultation with government, local tourism businesses, and any other stakeholders is next. This step is to get feedback about the policy statement. Following the consultation and depending on the outcome, the policy statement might be rewritten or modified. Next would be another round of consultation and then rewriting until the the policy statement is approved.

Now is time to implement the policy statement. This will include identifying specific roles of individuals, committees, organizations, etc. This step also includes developing the budget and timeline for the initiative(s).

Finally, those involved evaluation the policy. Were the goals achieved? Why or why not? However, you do not wait until the end of the established timeline for the policy to evaluate. There should be constant assessment to identify if you are likely to achieve the goals. Remember there are numerous constraints that are external (e.g., weather, natural disaster) that might dictate the need to adjust the initiatives and other efforts related to the tourism policy.

Tourism Planning

Prior to tourism planning it is important to consider other types of planning for a community or geographic area. Planning is not new. Gunn and Var (2002) indicate physical planning goes back to early Greek and Roman times. Planning is done to manage visual appearance and land use. However, planning incorporates many disciplines and perspectives: “Planning is a multidimensional activity and seeks to be integrative. It embraces social, economic, political, psychological, anthropological, and technology factors. It is concerned with the past, present, and future” (Rose, 1984, p. 45).

Gunn and Var (2002) suggest when plans (not only tourism, but community, etc.) are created they often include very high or lofty goals and it is difficult to actually achieve such goals for numerous reasons. Planning is very vague and has no real theory behind it. For community plans the general goal is a better place to live. For tourism planning the goal might be to provide visitors with a good experience. As stated earlier, an effective  tourism plan can also maintain or even improve the quality of life of residents, not just economically but the attractions provide activities for local residents as well as tourists.

Morrison et al. (2018) offer three primary reasons for tourism planning. The first two are related to impacts, to maximize the economic benefits and minimize damage to resources (i.e., natural, environmental, cultural). Another reason for a tourism plan is that tourism is constantly changing for many reasons (e.g., visitor expectations, needs, motives; politics; economy; technology). As a result, the plan needs to be adaptable.

Not all destinations have a tourism plan. Some reasons for not having a tourism plan include (Morrison et al., 2018):

  • Objections – it should be taken care of by the private sector and there is no need for a formal plan.
  • Cost – includes market research, consultations, and a lot of time.
  • Complex – tourism is affected by numerous things, such as government policies, dynamic of the community and stakeholders.
  • Diversity – various sectors involved directly or indirectly in tourism.
  • Seasonality – in many destinations the jobs related to tourism can be seasonal (e.g., beach destinations, snow skiing destinations).
  • Unpredictability – keep in mind the numerous things that affect and make tourism complex (e.g., natural disasters, crises, politics, economy).

Gunn and Var (2002) add the following tourism planning barriers:

  • Lack of awareness of tourism impacts – which is ironic because it is a reason for a tourism plan.
  • Do not understand tourism development – there needs to be a plan for developing tourism and then maintaining and even upgrading tourism (e.g., attractions, facilities, etc.).
  • Inadequate infrastructure – might have deteriorated attractions, facilities, etc.
  • Unorganized – no leadership to guide the process.
  • Politics – usually various opinions among stakeholders (e.g., businesses, government, other stakeholders).
  • Lack of hospitality training.

However, there can be serious consequences of unplanned tourism. In general, unplanned tourism is not likely to be sustainable tourism economically, environmentally, socially/culturally.

Tourism Planning Models or Approaches

Morrison et al. (2018) provide a seven step tourism destination planning model:

  • Background analysis – including a SWOT analysis and assessments of government policies that affect tourism, inventory analysis (e.g., attractions, accommodations, restaurants, etc.), current demand for tourism at the destination.
  • Research and analyses – identify/map locations of the inventory analysis, market survey of current visitors (e.g., motivations, what they like to do) and non-visitors (e.g., why have they not visited?, awareness of the destination, image/perception of the destination), competitive analysis (e.g., who are your competitors?, how can you differentiate your destination from competitors? what do and can you work to improve?).
  • Where are we now? (position statement).
  • Where would we like to be? (vision statement). Then, identify critical success factors or ways to measure and determine if you achieved your vision.
  • Setting goals, establishing strategies, and setting objectives – develop a policy or (e.g., stimulate the economy). Set goals or achievable outcomes. Identify alternative strategies to achieve goals and select the most desired of the alternatives given environment or conditions (e.g., economy, resources, politics). Set objectives which are more short term goals to help monitor if you are going to achieve your longer term goals. If not, remember a tourism destination plan should be adaptable, which is the next step.
  • Develop a plan – identify organizations and people to be involved and their roles, funding sources and budgets for different aspects of the plan, activities to implement your plan.
  • Implement and monitor the plan – While the plan should be developed by input and participation by numerous stakeholders, it is generally implemented by a local tourism agency or organization (e.g., CVB). But, there should be committees derived of various stakeholders to which the agency is accountable. This helps monitor progress of implementing the tourism destination plan and adapt if needed.
  • Evaluate the plan – measure performant of the various parts of the plan against the goals (e.g., did you achieve the goals? Why or why not?). Use the evaluation to see if and how you might adapt the plan moving forward.

Tourism Development

The tourism destination plan helps guide development of tourism. Destinations will be at various stages of development. So, it is not that the tourism plan is just for a destination just getting involved in tourism. As suggested by Mason (2003). development and change for destinations occurs as time progresses. The characteristics, motives, preferred activities and attractions, and many other things change over time and destinations redevelop to remain competitive. A fairly common way to view this is commonly referred to as “Butler’s Tourism Area Lifecycle”. There are five main stages to Butler’s Life Cycle (Butler, 1980):

  • Exploration – at this stage there might be some tourism but not really an effort to provide traditional or common tourism attractions, facilities, etc. This stage mostly include tourists visiting facilities and local resources used by residents.
  • Involvement – this is the beginning of the destination offering some facilities for tourists. The destination begins to more formally organize and provide or improve infrastructure, some attractions, and facilities for tourists at a local level.
  • Development – the destination begins marketing and promoting the destination. This stage also begins development from outside organizations and/or businesses. The destination will begin to develop and look more like a noticeable tourist destination. More and more tourists will likely visit the destination as development progresses.
  • Consolidation – at this stage the rate of increase in visitors will begin to decline. The rate of development will also begin to decline. Residents may become opposed to tourism with all of the non-locals who are in the community and there is more traffic and congestion. Some of the older attractions, facilities, etc. may also begin showing degradation.
  • Decline – number of visitors will be begin to decrease as competitor destinations might have more appealing attractions, infrastructure, etc. The degradation of attractions, infrastructure, and other aspects of the destination will continue and possibly turn into what Butler (1980) refers to as a “veritable tourist slum” (p. 9).
  • Rejuvenation – this outcome can occur by development of a new man-made attraction, which is likely to be followed by improvement of surrounding attractions, facilities, and other tourist needs. However, if competitor destinations also rejuvenate, the competition will remain and rejuvenation might be much less or possibly not rejuvenate and potentially decline. Another way Butler (1980) suggest rejuvenation can occur is to utilize natural resources that might not have been part tourism product throughout previous tourism development and marketing and promotion.

Butler (1980), as well as many other tourism scholars, suggest all of these efforts or stages of Tourism Area Life Cycle should be a collaborative effort within the community. For example, the government could offer incentives for private development of a new man-made attraction.

There are a number of potential ways to develop tourism. One way is to develop a “flagship” attraction, which are major attractions like a theme park (e.g., Disney Land, Disney World) and/or utilize natural attractions (e.g., ocean, lake, National Park). Gunn and Var (2002) offer recommendations for tourism destinations to develop destination zones. The zone would have clusters of attractions (e.g., museum districts) and a corridor connecting the clusters with some form of transportation. Clustering attractions provides tourists with more to do in a closer area so they spend more time at attractions and less traveling between attractions. The destination zone and clustering is a great example of planning and development and how integrated the two initiatives should be.

Morrison et al. (2018) suggest tourism involvement should be holistic. The holistic view would include consideration of the product (e.g., attractions, events, support facilities, transportation, infrastructure, etc.). Respective destinations could also ensure people (i.e., hosts, guests) are included to ensure there is community awareness and  inclusion of local businesses, organizations, and residents. Morrison et al. (2018) also suggest visitor management (e.g., signage) and identifying the visitor mix of the destination. Packages (e.g., all inclusive, hotel and tickets to attraction) and programs (e.g., events, festivals, other activities) could also be developed to attract more tourists. However, destinations should approach tourism development and/or redevelopment from a sustainable approach to avoid overtourism (i.e., too many tourists).

Sustainable Tourism Development

Tourism development should also be sustainable and include the three impacts of tourism (i.e., economic, environmental, social/cultural).

The United Nations (n.d.) proposes 17 goals to consider for economic development, which include economic (e.g., “No Poverty”, “Decent Work and Economic Growth”, environmental (e.g., “Clean Water and Sanitation”, “Affordable and Clean Energy”), and social/cultural (e.g., “Good Health and Well Being”, Quality Education”) goals. The 17th goal is “Partnerships For the Goals”, which are very important for tourism destinations, not only in tourism destination planning and development, but other aspects such as marketing and promotion.

Relating development back to the impacts of tourism (i.e., economic, environmental, social/cultural). Sustainable development should include these impacts. Morrison et al. (2018) through applying the triple bottom line to tourism offers some examples of efforts for sustainable development in each of the three areas:

  • Social – include residents, be sure development improves or at least maintains locals’ quality of life.
  • Environmental – protect resources, educate visitors and residents of ways to protect resources.
  • Economic – new employment opportunities, increase spending of visitors, find ways to have businesses purchase locally to minimize leakage.

Tourism Development Strategies

Various strategies exist to develop tourism. For example, flagship attractions (e.g., large amusement parks, National Parks) can provide something unique to market and promote. Development of clusters of attractions (e.g., museum districts) provide several attractions near each other so visitors do not have to drive long distances between attractions. Such districts could also include development of a circuit or trail for transportation via hiking or biking. Aside from man-made attractions, events can be developed by destinations to highlight such things as cultural or other unique aspects of a destination.

Considering all of the possible options of tourism development provides a holistic view. Not only the examples of attractions and events, but packages and programs can developed. Destinations need to also consider all of the elements of tourism in development (i.e., attractions, infrastructure, transportation, built/support facilities, service quality/hospitality). Again, not only businesses and organizations directly involved in tourism, but all stakeholders (e.g., residents, other local businesses) should be included and/or given the opportunity to provide feedback regarding the tourism development plan.

The general goals of tourism development should include improving visitors’ experiences, improving the local economy, not damaging natural resources, and integration throughout the destination so that tourism attractions and venues are not isolated from the rest of the community (Gunn & Var, 2002). Such goals of tourism development require all three sectors (i.e., private, non-profit, government) to be involved and collaborate.

Tourism Development Roles

The private sector, non-profit, government, and local community (e.g., residents) should be involved in tourism development. The private sector role is entrepreneurial and operations (Morrison et al., 2018). The entrepreneurial role is to identify investors to develop man-made attractions, accommodations, food and beverage, and other facilities for tourists. Once built their role becomes to hire workers, manage the operation and ensure it is successful. After all, they are taking a risk as entrepreneurs.

As discussed in the Tourism Organizations section, the non-profit organizations include CVBs to market and manage the destination, chambers of commerce, associations such as a local sports association to attract sporting events to the destination. The CVB typically works with all stakeholders and leads the marketing and sales (e.g., conventions, trade shows) for the destination. Chambers of commerce might be the tourism marketing and sales organization in smaller destinations. However, many of these non-profit types of organizations collaborate with each other, as well as with private or for-profit-sector (e.g., members of CVBs) and government (e.g., hotel tax dollars as a funding source). Non-profit organizations might also operate such things as museums and historical attractions, as well as festivals and events. Such organizations might be local cultural organizations.

The government really does not manage tourism attractions. However, there are exceptions, such as National Parks. Government roles are to stimulate development of tourism, as well as establish and enforce procedures, codes, such as zoning (e.g., business, residential). Government might also get involved for the following reasons: bankruptcy of an attraction where the government needs to help the business in some way, ensure cultural aspects of the community are conserved, encouraging private sector development, find ways to work with potential attractions and other elements of tourism provided through the private sector where businesses may have concerns about being profitable (Morrison et al., 2018).

Government might fulfill some of the above reasons for their role in tourism development by offering incentives (e.g., tax breaks) to entice development by the private sector. Government might also offer a piece of land for private sector development, which lowers the businesses cost to develop at attraction, supporting facilities, or other element of tourism.

While the sectors may have relatively unique roles in tourism development, it is also important the cooperate with each other for the good of the destination. Edgell and Haenisch (1995) offer a model whereby there are times each will work independently of the other two sectors, times when two sectors work together (e.g., private sector and government), and times when all three work together. Edgell and Haenisch (1995) call this “coopetition”. For example, while attractions compete within the destination for tourists to visit respective attractions, if all stakeholders cooperate the develop and manage tourism, the destination will do better overall.

Project Development Analyses

Prior to developing an attraction, hotel, or other element of tourism, there should be an assessment or analysis to determine the feasibility of being successful. Private sector developers who need be profitable will typically do feasibility studies. This may start with a pre-feasibility study, which is essentially to see if the project is even viable. For example, does the project make sense given what the destination already offers? Pre-feasibility studies might be conducted by whatever company or organization is interested in the project. If it does, the next step would be a more robust feasibility study to identify such things as potential sites for the product being considered, assess the market demand of the project, projected revenues and expenses, capital costs to develop the project, and will there be enough return on investment (ROI) if the project is developed. The full feasibility study is often conducted by an independent consulting company to minimize biases. The feasibility studies helps the company or organization identify if the project should move forward or not.

The market demand study within the full feasibility study would include secondary and primary research. Secondary research would include existing data, such as hotel metrics (e.g., supply, demand or rooms sold over a given period of time, occupancy, average daily rate (ADR), and revenue per available room (REVPAR) if the project is a hotel. Primary market analysis requires collection of data. This can include surveys (e.g., visitors of the destination to determine if the potential project is of interest), focus groups to get in-depth insight as to the interest of visitors. Surveys can also be conducted to potentially identify potential demand for the project.

If a project is not intended to be profitable, such as one being developed by the government or non-profit organization, a cost-benefit analysis can be conducted. Such a study essentially identifies the potential benefits to society are worth the cost of the investment.

Butler, R. W. (1980). The concept of a tourist area life cycle of evolution: Implications for management of resources. Canadian Geographer, XXIV (1), 5-12.

Draper, J., Woosnam, K. M., & Norman, W. C. (2011). Tourism use history: Exploring a new framework for understanding residents’ attitudes toward tourism. Journal of Travel Research, 50 (1), 64-77.

Edgell, D. L., Allen, M. D., Smith, G., & Swanson, L. E. (2008). Tourism policy and planning: Yesterday, today and tomorrow . Elsevier Inc.

Gunn, C. A., & Var, T. (2002). Tourism planning: Basics, concepts, cases (4th ed.). Routledge.

Hall, C. M., & Jenkins, J. M. (1995). Tourism and public policy . Routledge.

International Trade Administration. (n.d.). Tourism Policy Council (TPC). https://www.trade.gov/tourism-policy-council

Mason, P. (2003). Tourism impacts, planning and management . Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann.

Morrison, A. M., Lehto, X. Y., & Day, J. G. (2018). The tourism system (8th ed.). Kendall Hunt.

Rose, E. A. (1984). Philosophy and purpose in planning. In M. J. Bruton (Ed.), The spirit and purpose of planning (2nd ed., pp. 31-65). Hutchinson.

United Nations. (n.d.). Department of Economic and Social Affairs: Sustainable Development. https://sdgs.un.org/goals

U.S. Department of State – Bureau of Counsular Affairs. (n.d.) Visa Waiver Program. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/tourism-visit/visa-waiver-program.html

GHL 2365 - Tourism Copyright © 2024 by Jason Draper is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Tourism is an important driver of economic prosperity, jobs, income and wellbeing in OECD countries and beyond. Awareness of the sector’s role as an economic and social force has been elevated at the highest levels, following the near complete shutdown of tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, rapid and unbalanced tourism development also brings challenges for people, places and businesses. We analyse policies and structural changes impacting the development of tourism and provide policy makers with policy solutions, data, expertise and good practices to set tourism on a path to a more resilient, sustainable and inclusive future. 

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Key messages, co-ordinated, forward-looking action is needed to set tourism on a path to a more resilient, sustainable and inclusive future..

The pandemic and other recent crises have been an opportunity to rethink the tourism system, and move toward fairer, more sustainable and resilient models of tourism development. This requires policies that address structural weaknesses and address the tourism management and unbalanced development issues that continue to impede the sector and prevent the jobs, well-being and other benefits from tourism flowing to local communities. Policy interventions will also be necessary to advance the digital and low-carbon transitions. Governments need to consider these issues as they design and put in place comprehensive tourism recovery strategies and action plans.

Improving the evidence base is key to ensuring that tourism policies are targeted to meet strategic objectives

Improving the evidence base to inform tourism policy and business decisions is a key policy priority. Effective policy making, planning and management all rely on the availability of robust evidence, preferably in the form of reliable and timely data that is sufficiently disaggregated and comparable across destinations and territorial levels. More progress is also needed to better measure the economic, environmental and social dimensions of tourism, and develop timely and robust indicators and tools to monitor the effectiveness of tourism policies and the resilience and sustainability of tourism development.

Tourism is a driver of economic prosperity and well-being

The direct economic impact of the tourism sector is far-reaching and has knock-on consequences for the wider economy. Before the pandemic, the tourism sector directly contributed 4.4% of GDP and 6.9% of employment, and tourism generated 20.5% of service-related exports in OECD countries, on average. The unprecedented shock from COVID-19 saw the average direct contribution of tourism to GDP fall to 2.8% in 2020 across OECD countries with data available. This equates to an average decline of 1.9 percentage points compared to pre-COVID-19.

Chart - Direct contribution of tourism to selected OECD countries, pre-COVID-19 and 2020

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Global Forum on Tourism Statistics, Knowledge and Policies

The Global Forum on Tourism Statistics, Knowledge and Policies provides a unique platform for the regular exchange ideas, views and experiences to address issues high on the global tourism agenda. It brings together policy-makers, statisticians and leaders from the private sector and civil society to discuss relevant and emerging tourism policy issues, and their overarching implications for policy implementation and the supporting data infrastructure, in collaboration with the private sector, researchers and academics from OECD member and non-member countries, and other international organisations.

  • Supporting the development of economic intelligence, comparable statistics, and indicators on the global tourism economy, markets, and destinations.
  • Promoting an evidence-based and integrated policy approach to support a stronger, more inclusive, and sustainable tourism economy, and engaging with the private sector.
  • Enhancing effective horizontal and multi-level governance in tourism, and co-operating with all levels of government.
  • Supporting good policy, data and business practices in Member and Partner countries, and promoting a forward-looking vision for tourism

Tourism Committee

Since 1948, the OECD Tourism Committee analyses and monitors policies and structural changes affecting the development of domestic and international tourism.

The Committee provides policy-makers with concrete analysis of key challenges and policy responses that will shape tourism in the years to come. The Committee actively promotes an integrated, whole-of-government approach linking tourism to policies such as economy, investment, transport, trade, inclusive growth, employment, innovation, green growth, local development, SMEs and entrepreneurship. The Committee also supports work on tourism policy performance and evaluation through its  tourism policy reviews .

The Committee is expanding its global reach by co-operating closely with Partner countries and by deepening its engagement with the private sector. The aim is to more effectively share knowledge and good practices and contribute to shape global debates on tourism. The Committee has a strategic partnership with the European Commission, and has a long-standing history of co-operation with other organisations such as the  World Tourism Organization , the  United Nations Environment Programme , the  International Labour Office  and the  Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation . Examples of projects which have benefited from international co-operation include the Tourism Satellite Account, the travel and visa facilitation agenda, the  10YFP Sustainable Tourism Programme  and the work on supporting quality jobs in tourism.

Related policy issues

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  • Local employment and economic development
  • Making critical minerals work for sustainability, growth, and development
  • Multi-level governance
  • Regional development
  • Rural development

Tourism Teacher

Different levels of tourism policy and planning

What are the different levels of tourism policy and planning? Tourism policy and planning is a very complex issue involving a number of stakeholders and bodies. Research in this area can often be overwhelming and confusing for the untrained eye.

This post, therefore, intends to provide a basic introduction to tourism policy and planning, outlining the different levels of involvement by different organisations. At the end of the post I have included some recommend texts for further reading suitable for tourism industry stakeholders (those working in or interested in the industry) and those studying the tourism industry. 

What is tourism policy and planning?

These two terms are largely interchangeable. Tourism policy can be defined as;

‘ A set of rules, regulations, guidelines, directives, and development/promotion objectives and strategies that provide framework within which the collective, as well as individual decisions directly affecting long-term tourism development and the daily activities within a destination are taken ’

Planning can be defined as;

                ‘the process of making decisions for the future , and not simply the physical preparation of a ‘plan’.  Planning involves implementing decisions and monitoring the outcomes.’

Components of tourism

Tourism policy and planning typically involves a number of components, namely:

  • Tourism attractions and activities
  • Accommodation
  • Other tourist facilities and services
  • Transportation facilities and services
  • Other infrastructure
  • Institutional elements

tourism policy and planning

You may also be interested in my post- ‘ Why tourism planning is important ‘ 

Levels of tourism planning

Tourism policy and planning takes place on different levels. This can take a top-down approach, for example by international or national bodies, or a bottom-up approach, from a local level.

tourism policy and planning

International tourism planning

At the international level tourism planning typically involves; international transportation services; the movement and scheduling of the tours of tourists among different countries; the development of major tourist attractions and facilities in neighbouring countries and the working strategies and promotional programs of many countries.

Examples of international level participation groups include:

  • International Government and Intra-government Org’s: g. World Tourism Organisation ; Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
  • International Producer Organisations: g. World Travel and Tourism Council
  • International Non-Producer Organisations: g. Tourism Concern ; World Wildlife Fund (WWF); Greenpeace;
  • International Single Interest Organisations: g. World Congress Against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children

You may also be interested in my post- ‘ What is tourism? A definition of tourism ‘ 

The following organisations will consider similar issues, but not limited by the concerns or boundaries of a single nation. Decisions and influences from this level can be significant for tourism at a national and local level

  • European Union
  • of Caribbean States (ACS)
  • The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
  • The South Pacific Tourism Organization (SPTO)
  • The “Tourism Program” of the Organization of American States (OAS)

National tourism planning

The national level of tourism planning is concerned with: tourism policy; infrastructure facilities and a physical structure plan which includes important tourist attractions, selected tourism development regions, international entry points, facilities, and services. It is also concerned with: the amount, kinds, and quality of accommodation and other required tourist facilities and services; the important tour routes in the country and their regional connections; tourism organisational entitles, laws and investment policies; tourism marketing strategies and promotion; education and training programs and environmental, economic, and socio-cultural analysis.

Examples of national level participation groups include:

  • National Government and Intra-government Organisations- e.g. Visit Britain, Tourism New Zealand
  • National Producer Organisations- e.g. Visit Scotland, ABTA, The Association of Independent Tour Operators (AITO)
  • National Non-Producer Organisations- e.g. National Trust; The British Association for Nature Conservationists
  • National Single Interest Organisations- e.g. The Wilderness Society; Society for the Protection of Birds

You may also be interested in my post- ‘ Volunteer tourism: The reasons why people volunteer ‘ 

Regional tourism planning

Regional planning looks at aspects including; regional policy: regional entry points and transportation facilities and services; kinds of tourist attractions and their locations; the amount, kinds, and location of tourist accommodation and other tourist facilities, and services and location of tourist development areas including resort areas.

In addition, they will manage: socio-cultural, environmental, economic, and impact analysis’s; education and training programs on the regional level; marketing techniques and promotion; organisational establishments, laws, regulations and investment policies and implementation methods which include project plans and regional zoning regulations.

Examples of regional level participation groups include:

  • Regional Government and Intra-government Organisations – g. Caricom, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)
  • Regional Producer Organisations – e.Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association
  • Regional Non-Producer Organisations – e.g. European Environmental Bureau (EEB), Regional Environmental Centre for Central and Eastern Europe
  • Regional Single Interest Organisations- e.g. Coastwatch Europe, Climate Action Network Europe

Local tourism planning

Local level participants will consider tourism planning goals/objectives, analysis, plan preparation, outputs, outcomes, and evaluation at grass roots level.

Examples of local level participation groups include:

  • Local Government and Intra-government Organisations- e.g. local government involvement in leisure and tourism provision, e.g. Visit Cornwall , Tourism South East
  • Local Producer Organisations- e.g. local chambers of commerce and industry associations; local sporting clubs and private sport and leisure centres
  • Local Non-Producer Organisations- e.g. ratepayers and resident associations,
  • Single Interest Organisation – e.g. organisations such as ‘friends of a park’ or a group which has been formed in order to prevent particular developments such as a hotel or airport

The approach and implementation of tourism policy and planning differs considerably between destinations. It may, for example, be well organised and regulated in a developed country (or even over-regulated in some cases), and less resourced in developing countries.

Tourism Policy and Planning

To conclude, this post has demonstrated that tourism policy and planning takes place on different levels and in many different regards. For more information on tourism planning I recommend that you take a look at this post- ‘ Why tourism planning is important ‘

I also recommend that you consult some of the following texts, which are beneficial both to tourism practitioners and those who are studying the travel and tourism industry.

Tourism Policy and Planning: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

Tourism Planning and Destination Marketing

Leisure, Sport and Tourism, Politics, Policy and Planning

Tourism Planning: Policies, Processes and Relationships

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If you wish to cite any of the content in the post please use reference ‘Stainton, Hayley. (2018) Lifeasabutterfly.’

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book: Tourism Economics and Policy

Tourism Economics and Policy

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  • Language: English
  • Publisher: Channel View Publications
  • Copyright year: 2010
  • Main content: 872
  • Keywords: Tourism economics ; Tourism demand ; Tourism forecasting ; Tourism policy ; Tourism management ; Tourism policy analysis ; Economic analysis ; Destination competitiveness
  • Published: October 27, 2010
  • ISBN: 9781845411534

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Tourism Review

ISSN : 1660-5373

Article publication date: 16 November 2015

The purpose of this paper is to examine the current stage of the development of the study of tourism policy and some of the key issues that have come in for attention.

Design/methodology/approach

The work is based on a review of the literature relating to tourism policy over a 40-year period. Based on one of the models of tourism policy-making, it uses a five-part structure to organise the literature and for each part, it explores the issues dealt with by researchers over the period.

After a slow start, most aspects of tourism policy are now well-covered in the literature, and notably, there has been a marked quickening in the pace of study over the past decade. Influences on policy are well-documented, as are the roles of the different stakeholders in the policy process. This contrasts with the understanding of the work of the policymakers, which is less well-developed, as is the nature and influence of the different forms of policy output. Neoliberalism and governance have been prominent among recent policy themes pursued by researchers.

Research limitations/implications

The paper draws on a wide range of work over 40 years, but it cannot be comprehensive.

Originality/value

The paper’s originality lies in it providing a brief overview of the current state of research into tourism policy.

  • Stakeholders
  • Neoliberalism
  • Public policy
  • Policy-makers

Airey, D. (2015), "Developments in understanding tourism policy", Tourism Review , Vol. 70 No. 4, pp. 246-258. https://doi.org/10.1108/TR-08-2014-0052

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Publications.

Tourism is one of the world's fastest growing industries and an important source of foreign exchange and employment, while being closely linked to the social, economic, and environmental well-being of many countries, especially developing countries. Maritime or ocean-related tourism, as well as coastal tourism, are for example vital sectors of the economy in small island developing States (SIDS) and coastal least developed countries (LDCs) (see also: The Potential of the Blue Economy report as well as the Community of Ocean Action on sustainable blue economy).

The World Tourism Organization defines sustainable tourism as “tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities".

Based on General assembly resolution 70/193, 2017 was declared as the  International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development.

In the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development SDG target 8.9, aims to “by 2030, devise and implement policies to promote sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products”. The importance of sustainable tourism is also highlighted in SDG target 12.b. which aims to “develop and implement tools to monitor sustainable development impacts for sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products”.

Tourism is also identified as one of the tools to “by 2030, increase the economic benefits to Small Island developing States and least developed countries” as comprised in SDG target 14.7.

In the Rio+20 outcome document The Future We want, sustainable tourism is defined by paragraph 130 as a significant contributor “to the three dimensions of sustainable development” thanks to its close linkages to other sectors and its ability to create decent jobs and generate trade opportunities. Therefore, Member States recognize “the need to support sustainable tourism activities and relevant capacity-building that promote environmental awareness, conserve and protect the environment, respect wildlife, flora, biodiversity, ecosystems and cultural diversity, and improve the welfare and livelihoods of local communities by supporting their local economies and the human and natural environment as a whole. ” In paragraph 130, Member States also “call for enhanced support for sustainable tourism activities and relevant capacity-building in developing countries in order to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development”.

In paragraph 131, Member States “encourage the promotion of investment in sustainable tourism, including eco-tourism and cultural tourism, which may include creating small- and medium-sized enterprises and facilitating access to finance, including through microcredit initiatives for the poor, indigenous peoples and local communities in areas with high eco-tourism potential”. In this regard, Member States also “underline the importance of establishing, where necessary, appropriate guidelines and regulations in accordance with national priorities and legislation for promoting and supporting sustainable tourism”.

In 2002, the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg called for the promotion of sustainable tourism development, including non-consumptive and eco-tourism, in Chapter IV, paragraph 43 of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation.

At the Johannesburg Summit, the launch of the “Sustainable Tourism – Eliminating Poverty (ST-EP) initiative was announced. The initiative was inaugurated by the World Tourism Organization, in collaboration with UNCTAD, in order to develop sustainable tourism as a force for poverty alleviation.

The UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) last reviewed the issue of sustainable tourism in 2001, when it was acting as the Preparatory Committee for the Johannesburg Summit.

The importance of sustainable tourism was also mentioned in Agenda 21.

For more information and documents on this topic,  please visit this link

UNWTO Annual Report 2015

2015 was a landmark year for the global community. In September, the 70th Session of the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a universal agenda for planet and people. Among the 17 SDGs and 169 associated targets, tourism is explicitly featured in Goa...

UNWTO Annual Report 2016

In December 2015, the United Nations General Assembly declared 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development. This is a unique opportunity to devote a year to activities that promote the transformational power of tourism to help us reach a better future. This important cele...

Emerging Issues for Small Island Developing States

The 2012 UNEP Foresight Process on Emerging Global Environmental Issues primarily identified emerging environmental issues and possible solutions on a global scale and perspective. In 2013, UNEP carried out a similar exercise to identify priority emerging environmental issues that are of concern to ...

Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

This Agenda is a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity. It also seeks to strengthen universal peace in larger freedom, We recognize that eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for su...

15 Years of the UNWTO World Tourism Network on Child Protection: A Compilation of Good Practices

Although it is widely recognized that tourism is not the cause of child exploitation, it can aggravate the problem when parts of its infrastructure, such as transport networks and accommodation facilities, are exploited by child abusers for nefarious ends. Additionally, many other factors that contr...

Towards Measuring the Economic Value of Wildlife Watching Tourism in Africa

Set against the backdrop of the ongoing poaching crisis driven by a dramatic increase in the illicit trade in wildlife products, this briefing paper intends to support the ongoing efforts of African governments and the broader international community in the fight against poaching. Specifically, this...

Status and Trends of Caribbean Coral Reefs: 1970-2012

Previous Caribbean assessments lumped data together into a single database regardless of geographic location, reef environment, depth, oceanographic conditions, etc. Data from shallow lagoons and back reef environments were combined with data from deep fore-reef environments and atolls. Geographic c...

Natural Resources Forum: Special Issue Tourism

The journal considers papers on all topics relevant to sustainable development. In addition, it dedicates series, issues and special sections to specific themes that are relevant to the current discussions of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD)....

Thailand: Supporting Sustainable Development in Thailand: A Geographic Clusters Approach

Market forces and government policies, including the Tenth National Development Plan (2007-2012), are moving Thailand toward a more geographically specialized economy. There is a growing consensus that Thailand’s comparative and competitive advantages lie in amenity services that have high reliance...

Road Map on Building a Green Economy for Sustainable Development in Carriacou and Petite Martinique, Grenada

This publication is the product of an international study led by the Division for Sustainable Development (DSD) of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) in cooperation with the Ministry of Carriacou and Petite Martinique Affairs and the Ministry of Environment, Foreig...

Natural Resources Forum, a United Nations Sustainable Development Journal (NRF)

  Natural Resources Forum, a United Nations Sustainable Development Journal, seeks to address gaps in current knowledge and stimulate relevant policy discussions, leading to the implementation of the sustainable development agenda and the achievement of the Sustainable...

UN Ocean Conference 2025

Our Ocean, Our Future, Our Responsibility “The ocean is fundamental to life on our planet and to our future. The ocean is an important source of the planet’s biodiversity and plays a vital role in the climate system and water cycle. The ocean provides a range of ecosystem services, supplies us with

UN Ocean Conference 2022

The UN Ocean Conference 2022, co-hosted by the Governments of Kenya and Portugal, came at a critical time as the world was strengthening its efforts to mobilize, create and drive solutions to realize the 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

58th Session of the Commission for Social Development – CSocD58

22nd general assembly of the united nations world tourism organization, world tourism day 2017 official celebration.

This year’s World Tourism Day, held on 27 September, will be focused on Sustainable Tourism – a Tool for Development. Celebrated in line with the 2017 International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development, the Day will be dedicated to exploring the contribution of tourism to the Sustainable Deve

World Tourism Day 2016 Official Celebration

Accessible Tourism for all is about the creation of environments that can cater for the needs of all of us, whether we are traveling or staying at home. May that be due to a disability, even temporary, families with small children, or the ageing population, at some point in our lives, sooner or late

4th Global Summit on City Tourism

The World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) and the Regional Council for Tourism of Marrakesh with support of the Government of Morroco are organizing the 4th Global Summit on City Tourism in Marrakesh, Morroco (9-10 December 2015). International experts in city tourism, representatives of city DMOs, of

2nd Euro-Asian Mountain Resorts Conference

The World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) and Ulsan Metropolitan City with support of the Government of the Republic of Korea are organizing the 2nd Euro-Asian Mountain Resorts Conference, in Ulsan, Republic of Korea (14 - 16 October 2015). Under the title “Paving the Way for a Bright Future for Mounta

21st General Assembly of the United Nations World Tourism Organization

Unwto regional conference enhancing brand africa - fostering tourism development.

Tourism is one of the Africa’s most promising sectors in terms of development, and represents a major opportunity to foster inclusive development, increase the region’s participation in the global economy and generate revenues for investment in other activities, including environmental preservation.

  • January 2017 International Year of Tourism In the context of the universal 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the International Year aims to support a change in policies, business practices and consumer behavior towards a more sustainable tourism sector that can contribute to the SDGs.
  • January 2015 Targets 8.9, 12 b,14.7 The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development commits Member States, through Sustainable Development Goal Target 8.9 to “devise and implement policies to promote sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products”. The importance of sustainable tourism, as a driver for jobs creation and the promotion of local culture and products, is also highlighted in Sustainable Development Goal target 12.b. Tourism is also identified as one of the tools to “increase [by 2030] the economic benefits to Small Island developing States and least developed countries”, through Sustainable Development Goals Target 14.7.
  • January 2012 Future We Want (Para 130-131) Sustainable tourism is defined as a significant contributor “to the three dimensions of sustainable development” thanks to its close linkages to other sectors and its ability to create decent jobs and generate trade opportunities. Therefore, Member States recognize “the need to support sustainable tourism activities and relevant capacity-building that promote environmental awareness, conserve and protect the environment, respect wildlife, flora, biodiversity, ecosystems and cultural diversity, and improve the welfare and livelihoods of local communities” as well as to “encourage the promotion of investment in sustainable tourism, including eco-tourism and cultural tourism, which may include creating small and medium sized enterprises and facilitating access to finance, including through microcredit initiatives for the poor, indigenous peoples and local communities in areas with high eco-tourism potential”.
  • January 2009 Roadmap for Recovery UNWTO announced in March 2009 the elaboration of a Roadmap for Recovery to be finalized by UNWTO’s General Assembly, based on seven action points. The Roadmap includes a set of 15 recommendations based on three interlocking action areas: resilience, stimulus, green economy aimed at supporting the tourism sector and the global economy.
  • January 2008 Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria The Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria represent the minimum requirements any tourism business should observe in order to ensure preservation and respect of the natural and cultural resources and make sure at the same time that tourism potential as tool for poverty alleviation is enforced. The Criteria are 41 and distributed into four different categories: 1) sustainability management, 2) social and economic 3) cultural 4) environmental.
  • January 2003 WTO becomes a UN specialized body By Resolution 453 (XV), the Assembly agreed on the transformation of the WTO into a United Nations specialized body. Such transformation was later ratified by the United Nations General Assembly with the adoption of Resolution A/RES/58/232.
  • January 2003 1st Int. Conf. on Climate Change and Tourism The conference was organized in order to gather tourism authorities, organizations, businesses and scientists to discuss on the impact that climate change can have on the tourist sector. The event took place from 9 till 11 April 2003 in Djerba, Tunisia.
  • January 2002 World Ecotourism Summit Held in May 2002, in Quebec City, Canada, the Summit represented the most important event in the framework of the International Year of Ecosystem. The Summit identified as main themes: ecotourism policy and planning, regulation of ecotourism, product development, marketing and promotion of ecotourism and monitoring costs and benefits of ecotourism.
  • January 1985 Tourism Bill of Rights and Tourist Code At the World Tourism Organization Sixth Assembly held in Sofia in 1985, the Tourism Bill of Rights and Tourist Code were adopted, setting out the rights and duties of tourists and host populations and formulating policies and action for implementation by states and the tourist industry.
  • January 1982 Acapulco Document Adopted in 1982, the Acapulco Document acknowledges the new dimension and role of tourism as a positive instrument towards the improvement of the quality of life for all peoples, as well as a significant force for peace and international understanding. The Acapulco Document also urges Member States to elaborate their policies, plans and programmes on tourism, in accordance with their national priorities and within the framework of the programme of work of the World Tourism Organization.

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  2. Different Levels Of Tourism Policy And Planning

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  1. A tourism policy ill-suited for jammu and kashmir

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COMMENTS

  1. Tourism Policy and Regulation: Importance & Definition

    What is Tourism Policy? Tourism Policy is a set of regulations, frameworks, and strategies aimed at guiding and managing tourism development and promotion. It focuses on enhancing the positive aspects of tourism while mitigating its potential negative impacts. The policy involves collaborations between government entities, private sectors, and the community to create a holistic approach.

  2. The why, how, and what of public policy implications of tourism and

    We synthesized policy implications of tourism and hospitality research by reviewing 12,269 articles published in 10 leading journals from 2012 to 2021…

  3. Tourism Policy

    Tourism policy is an intentional course of action which goes beyond the level of theoretical reflection and political intention materialized into real actions, involving the use of public resources. It is also integrated by consistent actions or, at least, actions which were designed to be consistent.

  4. Policy and Destination Management

    Policy and Destination Management. UN Tourism works to provide guidance and share good practices on policies and governance models aimed to effectively support the tourism sector at the different levels: national, regional and local. The development and management of tourism destinations requires a holistic approach to policy and governance.

  5. FACT SHEET: 2022 National Travel and Tourism Strategy

    The 2022 National Travel and Tourism Strategy was released on June 6, 2022, by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo on behalf of the Tourism Policy Council (TPC). The new strategy focuses the full efforts of the federal government to promote the United States as a premier destination grounded in the breadth and diversity of our communities, and to foster a sector that drives economic ...

  6. OECD Tourism Trends and Policies 2022

    Tourism has been hit hard by the depth and duration of the crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Just as the sector was starting to rebound, the economic fallout from Russia's aggression against Ukraine has dealt a fresh blow to recovery prospects. The 2022 edition of OECD Tourism Trends and Policies analyses tourism performance and policy trends to support recovery across 50 OECD ...

  7. Sustainable tourism policies: From crisis-related awareness to agendas

    The relevance of sustainable tourism policies that aim to balance the positive and negative impacts of tourism has become particularly evident during …

  8. Policy and Policymaking in Tourism

    Policy is variously used as a synonym for a problem, or a statement of intentions, or indeed a program to deliver services for a stated purpose. Policymaking is an interactive process comprising policy formulation and implementation. Tourism policy is defined as a "reasoned consideration of alternative options" (Lickorish and Jenkins 1997: ...

  9. The why, how, and what of public policy implications of tourism and

    We synthesized policy implications of tourism and hospitality research by reviewing 12,269 articles published in 10 highly visible journals over 10 years. The most common rationale for policies ...

  10. Making tourism more sustainable: a guide for policy makers

    Tourism is a major economic force whose development can have a fundamental impact on societies and the environment, both positive and negative. This guide shows governments how they can make tourism more sustainable. It sets out 12 aims for sustainable tourism and their implications for policy, and describes the collaborative structures and strategies that are needed at the national and local ...

  11. Travel and Tourism Policy and Strategy

    The Tourism Policy Council (TPC) is chaired by the Secretary of Commerce and charged with coordinating national policies and programs relating to international travel and tourism that involve federal agencies. NTTO serves as the TPC Secretariat. Members of the TPC include the U.S. Departments of State, Homeland Security, Interior, Labor, and ...

  12. UN Adopts a New Global Standard to Measure the Sustainability of Tourism

    The Statistical Framework for Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (MST) thus becomes the internationally agreed reference framework for measuring the economic, social and environmental aspects of tourism. The adoption by the UN Statistical Commission at its 55th session (27 February - 1 March 2024) marks a historical milestone towards ...

  13. Tourism Policy

    Tourism policy is an expression of values in a struggle for power that redefines social relations, transforms the cultural and historical life of communities and transforms the place itself (Hall, 1994: 178). There is, however, unwillingness on the part of decision-makers to acknowledge the political nature of tourism.

  14. Tourism Policy, Planning, and Development

    Tourism policy, planning, and development are all very connected and do not just occur when a geographic area decides to be a tourism destination. Policy, planning, and development are included in numerous aspects of communities.

  15. Tourism

    However, rapid and unbalanced tourism development also brings challenges for people, places and businesses. We analyse policies and structural changes impacting the development of tourism and provide policy makers with policy solutions, data, expertise and good practices to set tourism on a path to a more resilient, sustainable and inclusive ...

  16. Different levels of tourism policy and planning

    Tourism policy and planning is a very complex issue involving a number of stakeholders and bodies. Research in this area can often be overwhelming and confusing for the untrained eye. ... Regional planning looks at aspects including; regional policy: regional entry points and transportation facilities and services; kinds of tourist attractions ...

  17. Tourism Economics and Policy

    Tourism Economics and Policy is a tome that should be on the shelf of every serious tourism scholar since it addresses the measurement of every aspect of tourism as well as all major themes. It does so in a language that is accessible to non-economists by not assuming that the terminology will be understood, using formulae sparingly, and ...

  18. Developments in understanding tourism policy

    Findings. After a slow start, most aspects of tourism policy are now well-covered in the literature, and notably, there has been a marked quickening in the pace of study over the past decade. Influences on policy are well-documented, as are the roles of the different stakeholders in the policy process. This contrasts with the understanding of ...

  19. The legislative aspects of tourism policy and planning: stakeholder

    The tourism industries are complex; this is particularly evident at the destination level, be that national, state, regional or local, where tourism planning and policy making is usually a complicated process involving a myriad of stakeholders with differing interests and objectives. This complexity is compounded when the regulatory aspects of tourism planning and development are factored into ...

  20. Tourism Economics and Policy

    Tourism Economics and Policy. Since the publication of the first edition of this seminal textbook, the tourism economics landscape has undergone many changes. In this concise revised edition, the authors have incorporated new approaches and ideas influencing tourism economics and policy. This includes discussions of the implications of the ...

  21. (PDF) Tourism Policy

    Abstract Tourism policy is a set of discourses, decisions, and practices driven by governments, sometimes in collaboration with private or social actors, with the intention to achieve diverse ...

  22. Sustainable tourism

    The World Tourism Organization defines sustainable tourism as "tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities".

  23. Social Aspects of Tourism Policy in the European Union. The ...

    However, there is a lack of research on the analysis of the place of social aspects of tourism in the general socio-economic policy of the state and, in a detailed aspect, in the sectoral policy represented by tourism policy, as well as its potential impact on the development of the national economy and meeting tourism needs of the society.