Stakeholders

Analyzing Urban Tourism Stakeholder Relationships: A Network Perspective

Seldjan Timur Haskayne School of Business University of Calgary, Canada

Abstract This paper presents a methodological approach to examine how sustainable tourism policy can be developed and implemented in urban destination. The stakeholder theory is discussed in the context of managing diverse stakeholder interests towards sustainable tourism policy. In order to examine the pattern of relationships among various destination stakeholders and roles of key stakeholders in influencing sustainable tourism policy, the policy network approach is studied. The strengths and weaknesses of network analysis technique in terms of providing a framework to measure and analyze the characteristics of tourism networks in enhancing sustainable tourism policymaking is discussed. 1. Introduction Policy provides broad guidance for decision making and links the formulation of strategy with its implementation (Wheelen and Hunger 1990). Tourism policy can be defined as "a set of regulations, rules, guidelines, directives, and development objectives and strategies.” (Goeldner, Ritchie & McIntosh 2000, p. 445). Tourism policy provides a framework to guide tourism development actions and it is a strategic declaration of intent within which tourism is expected to develop (Jenkins 2000). Thus, within a sustainable tourism perspective, the tourism development framework or rules, regulations, guidelines and strategies of tourism policy are concerned with the principles of sustainability. The concept of sustainable tourism is broad and refers to tourism that is long-termed, integrated, participatory, and environmentally, socially, culturally and economically compatible. Goeldner et al. (2000) identify the main goal of a tourism policy (from a “sustainable tourism” perspective) as providing high-quality visitor experiences that can maximize the benefits to destination stakeholders without compromising environmental,...