Tourism, the world's largest industry, has created a variety of complex political problems, particularly in those countries where the primary attraction of tourism is its potential for accelerating development. The political dimensions that have encouraged tourism in the People's Republic of China, the Philippines, Thailand, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Nepal, and Bhutan are examined in Linda K. Richter's study, which is based on more than 250 interviews with government officials, travel industry representatives, and media officials. Richter concentrates on the reasons for using tourism to advance government policy objectives and on the many ways political and economic problems can frustrate tourism's contribution to national development. All too often, after the expensive infrastructure is developed, luxury goods imported, and lavish promotional efforts expended, nations are left disillusioned with the economic promise of tourism. Disappointing results are often complicated by a preoccupation with the lure of tourism and an underestimation of the industry's needs and of the political pressures of and on government officials. Encouraging an awareness of the political aspects of tourism, the author advocates greater involvement by social and political scientists in monitoring tourism policy, as well as a restructuring and redesigning of programs in this largest sector of international trade.

The role of governance has only recently begun to be researched and discussed in order to better understand tourism policy making and planning, and tourism development. Governance encompasses the many ways in which societies and industries are governed, given permission or assistance, or steered by government and numerous other actors, including the private sector, NGOs and communities. This book explains and evaluates critical perspectives on the governance of tourism, examining these in the context of tourism and sustainable development. Governance processes fundamentally affect whether – and how – progress is made toward securing the economic, socio-cultural and environmental goals of sustainable development. The critical perspectives on tourism governance, examined here, challenge and re-conceptualise established ideas in tourism policy and planning, as well as engage with theoretical frameworks from other social science fields. The contributors assess theoretical frameworks that help explain the governance of tourism and sustainability. They also explore tourism governance at national, regional and local scales, and the relations between them. They assess issues of power and politics in policy making and planning, and they consider changing governance relationships over time and the associated potential for social learning. The collection brings insights from leading researchers, and examines important new theoretical frameworks for tourism research. This book was originally published as a special issue of Journal of Sustainable Tourism.

The 2020 edition analyses tourism performance and policy trends across 51 OECD countries and partner economies. It highlights the need for coherent and comprehensive approaches to tourism policy making, and the significance of the tourism economy, with data covering domestic, inbound and outbound tourism, enterprises and employment, and internal tourism consumption.

Citizenship as Foundation of Rights explains what it means to have citizen rights and how national identification requirements undermine them.