Policy Failures, Action and Implementation Gaps, and Non-Policy in Tourism

Abstract

Abstract

Recent environmental, political, and economic crises have further shed light on the vulnerability of tourism across different regions and environments around the globe. From a public policy perspective, regulations and direct interventions of the state are expected to address the socio-economic criticalities that are often the result of a policy failure or the inaction of governments or other actors on key policy issues. Public policy in tourism is generally characterized by extemporaneous and short-term policy actions in the aftermath of a crisis. More importantly, tourism is often overlooked as a policy issue, even when it is part of the problem or is significantly affected by policy decisions on key matters like migration, environment, infrastructure, and finance. This may be because there is no clear institutional authority for tourism and that it therefore falls between the policy cracks, or it may be because it is just not taken seriously as a policy area. The following chapter provides a critical appraisal on policy issues and policy interventions with direct impacts in tourism as well as policy problems caused by unregulated and market-driven tourism policies. It does so by presenting a framework illustrating policy failures, and policy-action relationships/policy implementation gaps and non-policies building from evidence collected from different destinations and contexts in developed and developing countries. The chapter then provides an overview and a rethinking of policy action in tourism in opposition to the prevailing mode of governance and public policy making.