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It is essential to understand how the countries with the highest number of tourist arrivals have managed to recover or not based on the competitiveness of the tourism industry during the pandemic stage. It is necessary to evaluate the policies implemented by each government to maintain the competitive performance of their industries. This chapter proposes a comprehensive review of the policies implemented in the 10 most visited countries according to UNWTO data. Most of these policies are geared toward economic and financial flexibility strategies for companies and individuals in the industry under study. The effectiveness of these policies is evaluated with statistical information extracted from a unified UNWTO database to reduce biases in the effectiveness analysis. Finally, concluding remarks are offered on the effectiveness of the policies and their contribution to the sector's recovery.

This chapter outlines the major findings of a survey on the rationale of the European Union actions for supporting tourism development and whether these undertakings can lead to a distinctive tourism policymaking. According to Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and European Union documentation, the most important instrument for the implementation of policy is based on tourism-related separate actions analysis, in a way that would enable one to compare the policies at the national and international level. This study suggests that tourism becomes a field whose issues and actions are taken at the regional level. This calls for creating the necessary conditions for the development of the tourism product at the European Union level. Until now, European Union practices do not portend the formation of a distinctive policy in the tourism industry.

Tourism, a critical economic sector for Small Island Developing States (SIDS), is extremely vulnerable to climate change. It has been becoming increasingly evident that strategic planning is essential for the sector to manage future impacts of climate change. This study examines the climate change considerations in the tourism sector of The Bahamas with a specific focus on adaptation policies by exploring the perspectives of key actors. Facing similar climate vulnerabilities as many other SIDS, The Bahamas was chosen because it is a mature tourism destination that provides an avenue for existing policy innovations. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight policy actors from the government, tourism associations, and nongovernmental organizations in the country. The findings revealed that these stakeholders have a good knowledge of climate change. However, planning for tourism and climate change is fragmented, with most climate policies formulated with the scope of mitigation, such as greenhouse gas reduction strategies. In addition, the policy implementation faces many gaps common to SIDS, such as funding and human capacity. At present, the strategic planning for future tourism targets sustainable eco-tourism markets. Based on our findings, we provide recommendations such as leveraging public officials' knowledge of climate change, steering locally relevant adaptation measures, and directing immediate attention toward projects in the pipeline to ensure timely, long-term, and effective planning. The study adds to the current knowledge of climate change in the tourism policy context for The Bahamas with implications for other SIDS.

Despite being endowed with rich culture and beautiful historic monuments, tourism performance in India has been low. The aim of the paper is to focus specifically on the role of key institutions, i.e., the Central (Federal) and State governments that drive tourism policy development and implementation in India. As tourism policy development and implementation in India has not been well documented and understood, this paper provides an analysis of these institutions. These institutes are critical due to their role in policy making, budget allocation and project implementation in the tourism domain. This paper also helps in highlighting the key factors behind low international tourist arrivals in India.

This chapter examines tourism policy processes in Chile in reference to sustainability, and the role of the government and governance in the delivery of sustainable practices in this country. There is a gap in the research examining national governance structures in the development and implementation of sustainable tourism policies, despite the importance and the high policy priority given to this task by the United Nations Environment Program and United Nations World Tourism Organization. Study data was collected in three stages: document and website analysis, interviews, and a semi-structured online questionnaire with key industry stakeholders. The findings indicate that the concept of sustainability appears to be at an embryonic stage in Chile, and that emerging policies seem to be leading the way in terms of sustainable development. Government policy and governance structures are still at the formulation stage and threats to this process are also highlighted.

This chapter examines how values relating to sustainability of indigenous cultures together with values relating to establishing economic autonomy through entrepreneurial initiatives can be accommodated in developing tourism policy. Specifically, the Hopi tribe of Arizona in the United States is investigated. Sustainable entrepreneurship, cultural sustainability, and cultural citizenship are used as theoretical frameworks to comprehend capacities for tourism policy that consider social, economic, and cultural impacts, as well as the integrated nature of these impacts on the Hopi tribe. Survey data was used to operationalize the concepts. Embodying core principles for protection of culture within a tourism policy along with procedural elements for compliance has the best chance for achieving the aims of preservation and development of cultural identity.

This chapter proposes a methodology to determine tourism policies that are effective in addressing the challenges of tourism as an instrument for development. A three-step process is proposed, including the preparation of a Green Paper that defines the different actors in the tourism system, as well as their functions vis-à-vis policy options; a White Paper that determines strategic positioning and a roadmap for action based on the diagnosis and analysis of the destination; and a Tourism Policy Plan that delineates the different governance actions. The model is examined from the perspective of the use of tourism as an instrument for development, with a consideration of the destination’s human, social capital, and participative governance systems.

A broad agreement exists that tourism is an effective instrument for social and economic development. However, there is no specific theoretical or practical framework of tourism for development to be found. Even the key issues have remained unformulated: concept of development, tourism's contributions to development, and tourism policy and governance for development. This chapter first summarizes the development paradigms held in the last decades (modernization, neoliberalism, dependency, and sustainability) vis-à-vis tourism, and then goes on to consider proposals emanating from New Institutional Economics and the Theory of Social Capital. It concludes with the results of a 2011 enquiry, involving some 60 international experts.

Destination management is in urgent need of analytical and policy tools, and even more so in the context of tourism for development programs. Understanding both structural elements and dynamic processes are essential. This chapter describes a model of destinations which considers three types of structural components: factors/resources, attractors (of tourism demand), and support systems. It analyzes as well the optimizing behavior of destination stakeholders, both endogenous and exogenous, as a way to understand destination dynamics. The model can be applied in the strategic positioning of destinations as well as in achieving competitiveness and sustainability—ultimately contributing to development—through tourism policy plans and governance processes. The model was born in the context of a European Eureka–ComTur research project, and has been tested in a variety of destinations.

The concept of development has gone through several paradigm shifts in the last six decades, from the post World War II idea of “modernization” to sustainability and gradualist institutions-concerned strategies, although the neoliberal laissez-faire approaches still hold considerable influence, even in international organizations. Development is a complex concept. Definitions have changed throughout time and it is crucial to understand the concept vis-à-vis tourism. It is no longer possible to defend that tourism investments will automatically create development. Understanding the nuances of the concept has become essential if one is to sustain that tourism does play a role in development.