Redefining success: comparing theoretical and practical definitions of value-based tourism performance

Despite evolving to consider social and environmental thresholds, tourism success continues to be primarily defined by economic growth. As international tourism volumes return to pre-pandemic levels, recent literature advocates for a paradigmatic shift from a tourism model focused on volume generation to one centred around holistic value creation. While this emerging approach has been conceptualized within the literature, there remains a lack of empirical evidence surrounding its adoption in practice. This study set out to determine how a sample of early-adopting Destination Management Organizations, or equivalent governance bodies, define ‘success’ and to what extent these definitions align with the conceptualization of value-based tourism performance in the literature. Mixed methods, including semi-structured interviews with destination representatives and a content analysis of their respective tourism strategies, were undertaken. Definitions of ‘success’ among early adopters of the value-based paradigm exhibited the characteristics from the literature (i.e., Stainable Balance of Interests, Regeneration and Value Creation, Local Ownership and Participation), with an additional fourth tenet, Transformative Impacts. An implementation gap was further identified across the characteristics, alongside a notable discrepancy between the tourism strategies and interview responses. An Extended Framework of Value-Based Tourism Performance is presented with a discussion of theoretical and practical implications.