Local Government and Tourism Development: Issues and Constraints of Public Sector Entrepreneurship

The process of government restructuring in New Zealand has seen the emergence of the free market and competition as prevailing ideologies in the policy environment. At the local government level, tourism development has become a key strategy through which a new entrepreneurial stance has been articulated. As a research topic, entrepreneurship has been the orised for the most part in the context of the private sector. This paper explores some important characteristics in the nature of entrepreneurship in local government drawing on recent examples from around New Zealand. The paper illustrates issues related to the agency of individuals and underlying value systems that underpin entrepreneurial activity in the public sector.