Patterns of Evidence-Informed and Evidence-Deficient Policymaking in Tourism

Interest in evidence-informed decision-making has grown within both tourism research and practice. Nevertheless, empirical investigations remain limited, particularly regarding the interplay between evidence, defined as information-based argument, and politics, referring to competing interests, values, and power dynamics, that shape the tourism policymaking process. This study explores the use of evidence in tourism policy and decision-making through 25 interviews with policy actors in Western Australia (Australia) and Buenos Aires City (Argentina). To analyse the evidence–politics interface, we offer a governance theory-inspired framework that connects actors, stages, and purposes of evidence use. Findings derived from qualitative content analysis reveal distinct patterns of evidence use in tourism policymaking. The most prevalent pattern is the evidence-informed design, while additional configurations of the evidence–politics relationship include evidence-informed goals, evidence-dominated processes, and evidence-deficient processes. The resulting typology provides a conceptual foundation for future empirical research aimed at extending our understanding of evidence use in tourism policymaking.