Tourism Policy is Influenced by Multi-sectoral Links

Yeah, well I’d like to do now then is to make this point, which I’ve referred to previously. But I’ll make it again. And that is the tourism is multi-sectoral. And therefore what does this mean? It means it’s highly influenced by what goes on in other sectors of the economy. For example tourists depend on transport. Tourists depend on supplies of accommodation. Tourists depend on supplies of food. And other things tourists are very dependent on, would include things like security personal security, and they would be looking to government, if you like to provide this type of reassurance.

Now, not only is tourism affected and influenced by multi-sectoral links, but it also in terms of developing a policy, it must support national development objectives. So we often say in tourism that it can create many jobs. And of course that’s true. But one of the policy objectives increases in the developing world. is that it’s not only increasing jobs, but it’s increasing jobs for women, what we call gender equality to use the phrase. And this means then if we are saying in our tourism policy, we want to create more jobs, then it’s almost inevitable we would also say, we need to create more jobs for women, and there’s another dimension. That is it’s not just jobs we want to create.

We want to create entrepreneurial opportunities, getting people to create careers then in the tourism industry. So, these national objectives must be reflected in our tourism policy. And, secondly we cannot conflict with other sectors policy. So, it’s very often we look at an area. and say that is a perfect site for tourists and for tourism. But, if the government has a land use policy, then they may say no you can’t use that. Because, it’s already earmarked for agriculture, or it’s earmarked for recreation purposes whatever it might be. So, this becomes very very important. And, because of the multi sectoral nature of tourism then, we also need coordination. So, if I’m an investor.

I want to invest in the tourism sector of a country and think about it. First of all, I’ve got to go to the ministry of finance. for example and say is it possible for me to invest in the tourism sector? If I need to raise capital? Do I have to bring this into the country? or can I raise it within the country? For example are there any investment incentives which might be access to? Can I develop tourism in this particular location?

And they say, we can’t tell you that you have to go to the ministry of land or you go along to the ministry of home affairs, and say can I bring in experts to run my hotel run my business, my scuba diving whatever it might be. So, all these things and what you find with tourism, that often in order to get to the stage where you can actually develop a site, that often ten or twelve different ministries involved. And we now move to what we call a one-stop shop, where all these permissions then can be obtained, if they are granted in one particular location.

And there’s also something else here which is important, and this is what I would call the political dimension. You see in any country, whatever the nature of tourism policy and planning in any country, then government plays a vital role. It plays a vital role because it’s not only responsible for the economy, it’s responsible for the society. And in countries then where everyone has a vote and politicians know, if they ignore what the people want, they have a risk of being voted out of office. So, one of the interesting points here is that when you look at tourism, then as a development area is not only multi-sectoral and it’s multi agency, but it’s also highly political.

And it’s highly political particularly in developing countries, because much of the investment capital comes of outside. And obviously you’re dealing then with often very large companies, or sometimes of development organizations, like the World Bank or the European Union for example. So, in this sense then tourism policy is highly influenced by these links.