Tourism Policy and Knowledge
Processes in Tourism Development
Theoretical reflections and preliminary Results from a
Comparative Study of European destinations
1. Conceptualising tourism policy: Sceptical notes
2. Re-conceptualising tourism policy:
Institutionalist perspectives
3. Tourism policy and knowledge dynamics: A
comparative perspective
Henrik Halkier, Aalborg University, halkier@ihis.aau.dk
CONCEPTUALISING
TOURISM POLICY
Widespread typologies (Fayos-Solá, Hall)
• generational approach
– boosterism, economic, community, sustainable
• multi-dimensional ideal-types
A certain unease
• not with the sources but with application
• discursive ‘game of labels’
• over-looking variation and contradictions
RE-CONCEPTUALISING
TOURISM POLICY
Points of departure
• new institutionalism (North)
• network theory (Rhodes)
• discourse analysis (Åkerstrøm Andersen)
• policy analysis (Hogwood, Hood)
Point of reference
• institutionalist approach to regional policy
– H Halkier: Institutions, Discourse and Regional
Development, Peter Lang 2006
RE-CONCEPTUALISING
TOURISM POLICY
Political
environment
Implementing
organisation
Public actors
Political sponsor
Private actors
Organisation
Discursive terrain
Policy design
PROBLEM
DEFINITION
Policy target
Firms
Organisations
Public authorities
Tourists
Economic &
socio-cultural
environment
Public actors
Private actors
Cultural patterns
Discursive terrain
POLICY
OUTCOME
Source: Inspired by inter alia Ham & Hill, Jenkins, Sabatier, Parsons, Winter – Elaborated on the basis of Henrik
Halkier: Institutions, Discourse and Regional Development, Brussels: PIE Peter Lang, 2006, chapter 3.
RE-CONCEPTUALISING
TOURISM POLICY
Socioeconomic
context
State/region
Tourists
Competitors
Destination
Sponsoring
Strategy
Resources
DMO
Organisation
Aims
Instruments
Knowledge
Targets
Focus on three central relations
• the destination and its political, social, economic contexts
• the destination and its destination management
organisation (DMO)
• the DMO and it targets among firms, workforce, tourists,
institutions
Tourism policies compared
CASE STUDIES
EURODITE contributions 2005-2010
• network researching regional knowledge dynamics
• focus on seven selected sectors, including tourism
• sectoral / territorial / firm-level knowledge dynamics
• read more: www.eurodite.bham.ac.uk
Five case studies in tourism
• North Jutland, Denmark: All-year tourism, museums
• Ruhr, Germany: Industrial heritage, football
• Antalya, Turkey: Coastal tourism, football
• Achterhoek, Netherlands: Rural tourism
• Skaane, Sweden: Film tourism
Tourism policies compared
TOURISM CONTEXTS 1
Attraction
Cultural
Organisation
Natural
Individual Ruhr heritage
Achterhoek rural
Skaane film
North Jutland DMOs
Antalya branding
North Jutland museums
Collective Antalya football
Antalya coastal
Tourism policies compared
TOURISM CONTEXTS 2
3,0
Expenditure on tourism (% of GDP)
Germany
2,5
Denmark
Netherlands
EU average
2,0
1,5
1,0
Turkey
0,5
0,0
0,0
0,5
1,0
1,5
2,0
2,5
Receipts from tourism (% of GDP)
3,0
3,5
Tourism policies compared
TOURISM CONTEXTS 2
Denmark
Turkey
Sweden
Netherlands
Germany
Tourism policies compared
STRATEGIC AIMS
Communication
Continuity
Service/
Continuity Service strategy
experience
Change
Change
Marketing strategy
Innovation strategy Branding strategy
Individual-cultural
Individual-natural
Collective-cultural
Collective-natural
Tourism policies compared
POLICY TARGETS
Target capabilities
Hardware
Target
institutions
Software
Individuals
Firms
System
Individual-cultural
Individual-natural
Collective-cultural
Collective-natural
Orgware
Tourism policies compared
POLICY INSTRUMENTS
Rules /
resources
Authority
Information
Finance
Mandatory
Conditional
Voluntary
Individual-cultural
Individual-natural
Collective-cultural
Collective-natural
Organisation
Tourism policies compared
POLICY GOVERNANCE
Public-private governance
Public
governance
Governme
nt
Network
European
National
Regional/
local
Individual-cultural
Individual-natural
Collective-cultural
Collective-natural
Market
Tourism policies compared
KNOWLEDGE IMPACT
Analytical
Synthetic
Symbolic
Exploration
Examination
Exploitation
Individual-cultural
Individual-natural
Collective-cultural
Collective-natural
Tourism policies compared
CONCLUSIONS
Policy patterns in case studies
• focus on development of new services
• target critical knowledge resources
• knowledge-intensive policies
• synthetic knowledge predominate
Scope for policy development
• creative market intelligence
• extra-regional sources of knowledge
• skills development of DMOS and SMEs
• networking, evaluation ….
Tourism Policy and Knowledge
Processes in Tourism Development
Theoretical reflections and preliminary Results from a
Comparative Study of European destinations
For draft written paper
e-mail
halkier@ihis.aau.dk
Henrik Halkier, Aalborg University, halkier@ihis.aau.dk