Tourism, Public Policy and Governance

Abstract

Summary

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a timely overview of the most recent advancements in the study of policies, politics and governance in tourism over the last decade. It does so by illustrating prominent works and themes on this valuable yet often taken for granted topic in tourism research. The chapter is structured as follows. The first section provides an overview of the current ‘state of the art’ in tourism, public policy, and governance literature with a selection of relevant themes and foci. The second section illustrates theoretical advancements that have occurred in this subfield over the last decade and critically discusses the hindrances and issues with conducting research public policy, governance, and tourism within a politicized context. The concluding section provides a summary of the key points of the chapter while also highlighting future directions for research. Additionally, a final remark is provided on the positionality of researchers in tourism, public policy and governance and the need to overcome policy-pleasing rhetoric and fully embrace political action.