Video #19 Tourism Policy (10 narrated slides, 7:30)
Channel: Stan McGahey
Date: 2015-07-30

URL: https://youtu.be/8axU781EjRc
S-1: Welcome to video #19.  I’m Dr. Stan McGahey, the creator and narrator of the videos. Their content is based on my experiences worldwide as a professor, consultant, writer, manager, and tourist in more than 80 countries on 6 continents.  
S-2: Video #18: Tourism Values, Philosophy, and Vision, covered part one of the foundation components.  Now part two’s three separate videos.  Video #19: Tourism Policy.  TP is government-led and provides the guidelines and legal framework for tourism industry that realizes the tourism vision.  Video #20: Tourism Planning, which is a joint public-private sector effort with the programs needed to achieve the destination’s goals.  Video #21: Tourism Development, which consists of mostly private sector entrepreneurial activities that create the majority of facilities and services that cater to tourists.
S-3: TP provides the concept and rules for how the tourism industry is planned, developed, promoted, managed, and operated.  It includes enabling legislation, regulations, and licensing.  It’s also the driving force behind the goals, strategies, and objectives in master plans and projects, and the programs of tourism-related agencies, as well as their directives, SOPs, approval processes, and enforcement actions.  Governance criteria provides stakeholders with a common framework for decision making and consensus building.  
S-4: Policy comes from the same root word as politics, and refers to governance. Every group endeavor must have rules to govern the behavior and actions of its participants for them to work towards a desired outcome.  Casino games and sports have rules.  The same is true in the business world, including tourism.  Organizations and people, from investment companies to owners and managers, and other stakeholders need to know rules, enforcement, and penalties for non-compliance.  TP is the set of rules that governs the conduct of the tourism industry for the purpose of realizing its tourism vision.
S-5: Governments assume the lead role in the formulation of TP.  Laws and regulations and the policies they are built upon should be equitable and in everyone‘s best interests.  So governments lead the effort on everyone‘s behalf with the input of other stakeholders.  TP is  approved by legislators and implemented by government agencies, such as national tourism offices, and other agencies that govern many of the resources upon which tourism depends.  These tourism agencies are often structured as public-private partnerships that give considerable implementation power to elected or appointed business and community leaders.
S-6: TP formulation involves the examination of various models, studies, and inventories.  It brings together all its stakeholders in a collaborative effort to achieve tourism goals within other government policies.  Some policies might conflict such as land use.  TP has the potential to affect virtually everything via its widespread economic, socio-cultural, and environmental impacts.  The government‘s larger goals prevail, meaning TP must be compatible with its broader economic, socio-cultural, and environmental policies.  Although TP is the government‘s responsibility, all tourism stakeholders should play a role in its formulation via legislative committe hearings and public hearings.  Media also disseminate information and provide feedback.  
S-7: TP formulation takes places at the national, state, and local levels.  At the state level it is aligned with the national level, and at the local level it is aligned with both state and national levels.  The lower levels add their own components as long as they do not conflict with higher level policies.TP is implemented by government agencies.
S-8: TP includes enabling legislation and other basic laws and regulations, so it is one of the first tasks of an emerging tourism destination.  But it is not static.  Old policies and laws are superseded by updated ones. Old TP mean lost opportunities and competitiveness for a destination.
S-9: Tourism is a complex industry, so its policy has many specific components.  Examples: tourism taxes, use of local products, and training and education of local manpower, and preservation of indigenous character that protects a destination’s natural and cultural heritage.  TP also governs passports, visas, and other border controls.  TP provides a clear idea of where it intends to go and what it intends to do to get there.
S-10: Once TP is in place, policy goals, strategies, and objectives are formulated to provide planners with some form and substance.  Example: goal of attracting more foreign tourists, strategy: select target markets and develop marketing campaign for each, and objectives: attend a travel fair and host a fam trip in each source market.  Now, I invite you to watch Video #20: Tourism Planning.  Thank you!