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.

This book examines the political order and the issues, processes and approaches in applying governance insights to tourist destinations. The book consists of 16 chapters presented in three parts. Part I introduces the reader to the issues and considerations of tourist destination governance. The four chapters in this part address the diversity of questions of relevance around regional destination development, community involvement, responsiveness and future outcomes of governance in the context of tourism. This includes an exploration of a variety of challenges regarding governance in emerging tourist destinations within the Greater Mekong in Asia, the conflicts in governance within a regional community in Scotland which has had a long history of golf tourism, the development of a typology of issues and pressures that affect tourist destination governance and the role of knowledge in good governance for tourist destinations. Part II explores the complexities and considerations of decision making and the significant role it plays in its specific relevance to tourist destination governance and tourism development within regional communities. In acknowledging that tourist destination development may involve contentious, complicated and arduous processes, this part recognizes that decision making has a prominent role to play in achieving effectiveness in governance. The three chapters in this part examine tourist destination decision making during times of crisis in Thailand, stakeholder roles in governance and decision making for a wildlife tour in Tonga, and the utilization of community involvement and empowerment as keys to success in regional tourist destinations. Part III provides further understanding regarding the approaches and solutions of tourist destination governance. This includes aspects of structural change, community engagement, networks and collaborations in the context of destinations. The five chapters in this part include the exploration of a process of governance change within a broader mountain tourist destination in Switzerland, utilizing effective networks as assistance to governance in destinations, community-based tourism governance solutions in a case study in Thailand and insights from complexity, network and stakeholder theories as approaches, including an understanding of a micro-macro context of tourist destination governance at its local/regional and national level. The concluding chapter examines the theory and methodology of governance studies, provide insights for tourist destination managers and researchers, and identify opportunities for further research into destination governance issues. This chapter discusses the application of governance concepts to other countries' governance and issues of conceptual importance, such as the need for ideology in the discussion of governance. This raises the question: does good governance of a tourist destination have to be based on democratic principles? Finally, the chapter looks at the concept of governance effectiveness.

Tourism Governance takes a systematic approach to reveal the varying internal and external dynamics that influence tourism policy and strategy across countries. With particular attention to the role of stakeholders and governmental scales, the book offers a broad geographic representation, highlighting the diversity of governance relationships towards tourism in Colombia, Egypt, Finland, France, India, Italy, Lebanon, Mexico, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, and United States. Two additional chapters push beyond borders to examine tourism driven nongovernmental organizations and international tourism governance. As the first and only comprehensive comparative analysis of tourism across governmental systems, Tourism Governance promises to be a platform for inspiring critical discourse on the forces that shape this global industry.

Focusing on the political economy of the international tourism sector in the era of globalization and its impact in developing contexts, this book employs a case study analysis of South Africa to assess how international tourism as a global system of trade, production, exchange and governance plays out in developing countries. It also examines its benefits and disadvantages for these countries. Scarlett Cornelissen explores the nature and extent of global tourism production, consumption and regulation and how these bear upon developmental prospects, specifically in the South. She also highlights lessons for other developing countries about the limitations and possibilities for greater linkage to the global tourism system. The book is suitable for both scholars and practitioners interested in global tourism, international political economy, development, Africa and cultural studies.

As competition is increasingly taking place on a global scale, tourist destinations must act more like businesses than they have in the past. Development in the tourism sector has often been beset by ambiguities and contradictions and has been the subject of debate across a range of disciplines in terms of its sustainability and level of social commitment. New Governance and Management in Touristic Destinations analyzes the most proper governance model to be implemented to increase the competitiveness of tourist destinations. It also focuses on the need to develop a managerial orientation capable of making the tourism system interact with tourism demand. Covering topics such as electronic word of mouth, gastronomic tourism, and sustainable development, this book is essential for practicing hospitality and tourism managers, professionals in the hospitality and tourism industry, specialists and consultants, government officials, researchers, educators, academicians, and students.

From its late nineteenth century origins, the concept of protected areas has increased in scope and complexity. It now has to come to terms with the twenty first century world of neo-liberal politics, performance metrics and the growing and complex demands of tourism. This international collection of papers explores how this might be done, detailing the issues involved, and the value and values that protected areas have for economies, peoples and environments. Special attention is given to World Heritage Sites, tourism planning and their communities, to the growth of private protected areas, and to the health values of protected areas. Other subjects include private sector business involvement in protected areas, concessions policy experiments, and how the work of the world’s largest protected area agency, the US National Park Service, is adapting to changing political and market demands, and to the challenges of sustainable development. It concludes with a searching interview with a member of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee. The chapters were originally published in a special issue in the Journal of Sustainable Tourism.

Sustainability is one of the most important issues currently facing the tourism sector. Recently, the role of resilience thinking has been highlighted in sustainable development discussions as an alternative perspective. This book approaches these concepts as interwoven processes and looks at change through a socioecological lens. Instead of seeing resilience and sustainability as alternative approaches, Resilient Destinations and Tourism argues that resilience should be understood as a fundamental part of sustainable tourism thinking for destination systems, and calls for better governance in implementation and management. Improving governance is the key issue in sustainable tourism development. The chapters in this edited collection focus on resilient destinations from a governance perspective, in which tourism resilience is contextualized as an integral part of pathway creation in the process of moving towards sustainable tourism. The contributions to the book represent a range of theoretical and empirical approaches with a wide international scope. Resilient Destinations and Tourism calls for rethinking the meaning of sustainable development in tourism and looks at how sustainability and resilience could be integrated. This book will appeal to a wide range of research disciplines and students whose modules focus on the relationship between tourism and sustainability planning, governance, the environment, and hazards and disasters.