Tourism policymaking unpacked: insights into evidence use practices

With tourism policy decisions under scrutiny in light of growing concerns about sustainability, climate change and overtourism, this paper explores the use of evidence in tourism policymaking. The study is based on interviews employing the technique of visual elicitation to stimulate an open conversation (about the use of evidence in policymaking) with politicians and public servants in four destinations: Margaret River and Denmark (Western Australia) and San Telmo and Palermo (Buenos Aires City, Argentina). Our findings show that policymakers distinguish between ‘formal’ and ‘informal’ evidence and that they use evidence in different, albeit occasionally complementary, ways. Our analysis further reveals that one type of evidence can serve different purposes along a continuum. Australia and Argentina have distinct traditions in evidence-based policymaking, and we observe country-specific factors shaping evidence use: strategic destination planning frameworks in Australia and ideologically driven or politically motivated decision-making in Argentina. This paper contributes to understanding current evidence use dynamics in tourism policymaking, which is crucial as tourism academia and industry share the aspiration to enhance this approach.