Abstract
Governance is recognized as a means to promote sustainable outcomes by democratizing the policy process and potentially harmonizing competing policy interests. This is particularly critical for sustainable tourism policy with its multiple sectors and multiple stakeholders at multiple scales. Yet little is known about the kinds of governance processes and instruments that are able to effectively harmonize competing power interests to better balance economic, ecological, and social concerns. This study analyzes the case of Bhutan and its Gross National Happiness (GNH) strategy as it is applied to sustainable tourism policy. Based on semi-structured interviews and focus groups with 57 state and non-state governance actors, it explores whether Bhutan’s unique GNH governance framework successfully harmonizes competing interests in the pursuit of sustainable tourism policy. It argues that the implementation of Bhutanese tourism policy is characterized by diverse and unexpected applications of power by multiple policy stakeholders. These complex power dynamics are not shaped in a meaningful way by the GNH governance instruments. Nor are they rooted in a common understanding of GNH itself. While this situation should subvert sustainable tourism policy, a commitment among state and non-state governance actors to a common set of Buddhist-infused cultural values shapes and constrains policy actions in a manner that promotes sustainable tourism outcomes.
Highlights
Sustainable tourism has emerged as a key part of national sustainability policies and strategies
Governance may be key to fostering collective action to promote sustainable tourism policy, but how it might do so in practice continues to require deeper exploration. This paper addresses this gap through an analysis of Bhutan’s unique Gross National Happiness (GNH) strategy and its accompanying governance framework as they are applied to sustainable tourism policy
About the actual performance of the GNH governance framework and its influence on sustainability policy. Is it responsible for harmonizing competing policy interests that drive sustainable tourism outcomes or is something else at play? If it is, are its governance instruments replicable elsewhere? If not, what is the engine behind the achievement of sustainable tourism outcomes? Is it even accurate to characterize Bhutan’s tourism outcomes as sustainable? This paper explores these questions
Summary
Sustainable tourism has emerged as a key part of national sustainability policies and strategies. It is structured around an analysis of the competing political dynamics of tourism policy implementation, the role of the GNH governance framework in attempting to harmonize these interests in a manner that promotes sustainable balance, and the actual policy outcomes that emerge from the process. State and non-state governance actors may have different interests and attempt to impose their own priorities on tourism policy, but these differences are a matter of operational degree rather than kind They are shaped and harmonized by a common commitment to the Bhutanese cultural values of integration and interdependence that promote balance across economic, social, and ecological systems.
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