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Regional development agencies (RDAs) have recently been established in Turkey as a policy vehicle to support local governments and coordinate stakeholders’ activities. In compliance with the European Union policy guidelines, regional-level planning and policymaking are introduced for the first time in Turkey. Within the new system, tourism is designated as one of the critical development tools and thus the RDAs have become actively involved in tourism planning and development. The purpose of this chapter is to analyze the role of these organizations in the enhancement of tourism in less developed areas, examining the case of Thrace and North Anatolia regions in Turkey, and the activities of these respective agencies.

This study aims to investigate the human resources management of regional tourism organizations (RTOs) in Poland as a condition for organization effectiveness and presents a model of RTO operation in destination management organizations for improved effectiveness.

The study was of qualitative nature because of the scope of the examined features and analyses of RTO effectiveness (here in relation to human resources). The research involved the following stages: desk research of secondary sources, pilot diagnostic survey and diagnostic survey proper, qualitative and statistical analyses. First, an analysis of secondary sources regarding conditions of RTO operation effectiveness took place. Next, a questionnaire was used to collect empirical data from 137 respondents from the same 13 group types, in equal numbers from each organization in the entire population of 16 RTOs.

The research identified 197 organizational effectiveness variables, in four feature groups: the effectiveness of statutory and economic objectives, stakeholders’ benefits from cooperating with RTOs and general characteristics of RTO operation effectiveness. The findings suggest that the characteristics of RTO employees influence organizational effectiveness, especially from the perspective of the organization’s stakeholders. There is a need for strong support for RTO employee structures as a measure to raise organization effectiveness.

Specific human resources practices are identified for the effectiveness of non-enterprise organizations (employee character and structure) that constitute an essential component of the management system at regional and national levels. New directions for RTO operations are also proposed.

The study fills a substantial and identified knowledge gap in assessing organization effectiveness level against the quality characteristics of RTO human resources. The analysis allowed the creation of a multidimensional and universal model of RTO effectiveness investigation, which facilitates comparative analysis of organizations despite their strong diversity. It can be implemented in assessing the effectiveness of other non-enterprise organizations in the context of tourism.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the importance of cross‐sectoral co‐operations and the potential role of tourism organizations in an integrated location management system, using the regional governance approach. The coordination between participants and the development of economic dynamics by coordinated networks are important factors determining the competitiveness of locations.

The paper undertook a qualitative and quantitative survey in Bavaria, which analyzed the role of a tourism organization in the location, using the example of cross‐sectoral interaction with the brewing industry. First, a qualitative explorative study was conducted analyzing the potential cross‐sectoral activities of the tourism organization with the brewery industry in Bavaria, and examined the indicators of power and legitimacy. A further quantitative survey was then carried out to assess the current situation of the cross‐sectoral interaction of the Bavarian tourism organization with the brewery industry and the position of the tourism organization in the location.

The results show that the role of the tourism organization in cross‐sectoral interactions with other parties in a region where tourism does not play a major role is not strong. It lacks the power to take a leading part in determining a region's attractiveness, and needs to develop its expertise as a cross‐sector intermediary for an integrative location management process. The results indicate potential for improvements in the field of communication and interaction to strengthen the position of the tourism organization.

The study results reveal that the philosophy of cross‐sectoral thinking is not yet strongly developed in the Bavarian tourism organization. It should develop a stronger network‐oriented perspective if it wants to become an intermediary between the local sectors and industries.

Applying the findings of the regional governance theory, the paper demonstrates the potential contribution of tourism organizations as cross‐sector intermediaries for location management processes, so that the various attractions at a location can all profit by working towards a more competitive and attractive location.

The destination as the area of movement of guests during their stay often leads to a cooperation among different tourism organizations and destinations: on the one hand, the co‐operation is necessary to be able to offer the products demanded by different guests, on the other hand, it is necessary to be able to guarantee a sensible appearance to the market. With an empirical research carried out in 1999 and 2000, the European Academy Bolzano took the Italian regional and sub‐regional tourism organizations into consideration to evaluate the progress in managing the destination Italy. Rigidity of the organizational structures, little cooperation and integration as well as insufficient market resources are some of the main results. Further developments in change management, stakeholder management, branding, and the setting of clear and measurable goals are some of the issues analyzed. In consideration of an analysis of the Italian regions with regard to their actual politics of destination development the paper concludes with the proposal of a new model of tourism organizational structure based on networks and on the distinction between territorializable basic tasks and deterritorializable product/market tasks. This paper is a conceptional work relevant for traditional destinations and valid as a case study.

In Finland, tourism policymaking is centralised in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, without a specific tourism minister. Tourism policymaking and implementation are much influenced by networks and collaboration of tourism experts on governmental, regional, and local levels. Despite the efforts of involving different stakeholders in tourism policymaking, the process includes wicked problems and occasionally conflicts of interest between the levels. Finnish tourism policymaking relies on various ministries, indirect laws, and working groups on the governmental level; and on regional councils, cities, municipalities, and destination management or marketing organisations (DMO) on the regional level, before reaching the operative level in tourism organisations. At every level, workshops, and other means to engage stakeholders are utilised. On a regional and destination level tourism is governed based on the strategies of each city, municipality, and regional councils, with varying collaboration and stakeholder engagement. The coordinator may be a regional council, DMO, or another stakeholder, such as a cluster of tourism enterprises and institutions of higher education. The different levels of governance are finally followed by enterprises, with their own interests, strategies, and visions. This chapter discusses Finnish tourism policymaking, focussing on the region of Satakunta, the city of Pori, and the Yyteri coastal area. Furthermore, the chapter discusses the strategic decision to focus on developing the Yyteri coastal area to meet the needs of locals and visitors, and how appointing a Senior Advisor for Yyteri beach and coastal area is sought to provide practical improvements also on an enterprise level.

Wine tourism is an area of growing interest because of its potential to contribute to regional development and employment at times of rural restructuring, particularly through the development of inter and intra industry networks. This paper provides a review of wine tourism, briefly discusses networks and their value, then analyses the development of wine tourism networks in Australia and New Zealand. The research indicates that although wine tourism network development is being actively encouraged, substantial difficulties exist because of the perception by many in the wine industry that they are not part of tourism. The paper concludes that while the development of new organisational structures to encourage wine tourism development are useful, they must be complimented by research on linkages, education of potential network members in order to close information gaps; and the development of network structures which maximise the overlap and linkages mat exists between the wine and tourism industries.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the entrepreneurial behaviour of small tourism businesses and their ability to contribute to regional development in the context of a transitional economy.

The research, by combining in‐depth interviews and a survey, reports on a case study of Wairarapa, a region of New Zealand that has recently seen a large expansion in the tourism sector.

The paper identifies a number of important criteria for the effective interaction of private‐public sectors as well as illustrating how small tourism firm owners are facing challenges in one of the most liberal economic environments whilst taking action to ensure periphery endurance.

Inductive theory or a bottom‐up model for regional development provides the conceptual structure for the research. The paper argues that the related paradigm is increasingly underpinned by entrepreneurial behaviour of a multiplicity of stakeholders in rural localities where tourism is seen as a key agent for regional rejuvenation on the demise of traditional economic activities.

Tourist regions with long tradition and years of experience often have a hard time implementing strategic management concepts. This is due to decision‐making and management processes at the level of tourism policy and the different levels of the tourism organization. These levels were bogged down for many years and aggravated the task of carrying out the required modifications. With the example of the Alpine region South Tyrol, this paper explains the errors that are likely to happen in the formulation and implementation of strategic concepts. The idea was to use a concrete example to explain the interdependence of the individual elements of strategic management from vision to implementation while, at the same time, elucidating the barriers and the sources of resistance to change at tourism organizations.

This chapter assesses the current research on knowledge management and adds insights from an Australian example. Knowledge management is critical to successful innovation in tourism products. It is an important tool for creating successful regional organizations and ensuring competitive destinations. This chapter explores the barriers to participation in regional knowledge management networks. Topics covered include knowledge management applied in tourism settings, knowledge clusters and regional partnerships, and knowledge transfer processes, including the value of new technologies. A detailed case study of an attempt to build a knowledge network in Australia is described and generic insights noted.

This paper examines the leadership practices of two Brazilian regional tourism organisations (RTOs) using an exploratory case study.

The research adopts an embedded case study approach, permitting the comparison of the leadership phenomenon in the “Instituto Estrada Real” (the IER) and the “Associação Circuito do Ouro” (the ACO). Semi-structured interviews (n=14) were undertaken to gather information from the RTOs' executives and actors/followers influenced directly by RTO leadership in order to obtain their perceptions about leadership practice.

Four leadership themes emerged: capacity to produce results, capacity to mobilise followers, articulation and communication of goals and actions, and articulation of roles and responsibilities. The findings are discussed in regards to the hierarchical and market governance structures of the two RTOs and the implications for leadership practice. The interviewees identified that transactional forms of leadership dominated the hierarchical governance structure of the ACO and that it was able to mobilise effectively other levels of government. However, this leadership does not deliver results at the speed required by the private sector. The IER is a market-led governance structure and its leadership practices effectively mobilised the private sector. However, it was found to operate in isolation from government and other key tourism stakeholders.

This paper draws together the regional tourism management and leadership literature, making both theoretical and applied contributions to regional tourism leadership.