Government approaches to tourism: an international inquiry

This study interprets worldwide government approaches to tourism through tourism policies and plans promulgated by national tourism-related organisations. An inventory of 63 tourism polices/plans/visions was elicited from 176 countries via e-mail or the websites of the national tourism administrations. CATPAC was used for content analysis of the government documents generalising the public sector's treatment of tourism and identifying governments' prioritised development approach. The results indicate that worldwide government policies are economic-driven and growth-oriented with conspicuous industrial interest and, thus, tourist and market considerations comprise most of the policy priorities. The level of economic development impacts tourism policy; developed countries accord tourism more local concern than their counterparts in the developing world.