Abstract
Stakeholder collaboration has become a critical issue in sustainable tourism policy due to the increasing complexity and interdisciplinary nature of the domain. Policymaking should reflect tourism values through a dynamic system in which stakeholders come to a consensus on sustainability issues via ongoing interactive engagement. Taking Singapore’s hotel sector as a case, this study explores how stakeholder relationships contribute to participatory policymaking on sustainable water management. Based on a survey of 33 relevant organisations, this research applies network analysis to investigate stakeholder collaboration within this policy domain. While the policymaking process is derived from a complex web of actors and their formal and informal interactions, the national water agency of Singapore and some private businesses were found to be centrally located in the policy network. The aforementioned government body is also perceived to hold the greatest legitimacy, power, and urgency over others in the policy domain. Central stakeholders were found to play an important “bridging” role in terms of the interconnectedness of policy actors across boundaries of the public, private, and third sectors. These prominent political and industry players were also likely to exert control over the policymaking process and access to important resources based on their favourable network positions.
Highlights
Tourism is widely regarded as an essential social activity because of its economic, social, and environmental significance [1]
Stakeholder collaboration in pursuit of common goals in sustainable tourism is determined by the stakeholder relationships established in a policy network [75]
Focus is given to a specific policy arena, namely water demand management (WDM) in Singapore’s hotel sector, as this is considered an exemplar domain for the development of sustainable tourism
Summary
Tourism is widely regarded as an essential social activity because of its economic, social, and environmental significance [1]. Recent studies have stressed that sustainable tourism development is dependent on developing “futuristic policies” [1] Such policymaking will need to acknowledge the interdependencies and interconnectedness within the tourism system [4] as “bring[ing] societal actors into joint projects” [5] A challenge facing stakeholders concerns how the complex and dynamic principles of sustainable tourism development can be translated into a destination’s tourism policy framework [6]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
