Moving towards coherent and comprehensive approaches to tourism policy making, will help countries to reframe tourism growth to better spread the benefits, address inequalities and improve the resilience of economies. Long-term strategies and policies focused on promoting quality employment and job creation, skills development, entrepreneurship, innovation, effective investment, and integrated regional development, are integral to achieving sustainable and inclusive tourism growth – growth that takes into account current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, and addresses the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities.
Governments should strive to further develop integrated and coherent tourism policy responses that reflect the circumstances of individual countries and local communities, in pursuit of shared goals to: i) provide consumers with access to high quality, reliable and safe tourism experiences; ii) increase productivity in the tourism sector, and particularly among SMEs; iii) protect, manage and enhance natural and cultural resources; iv) improve competitiveness; and, v) promote inclusive growth and development within and across countries.
We agree that for whole-of-government policy responses to be effective, they should, as appropriate:
Take into account that tourism is not simply the preserve of central governments, but encompasses all levels of government, where different mandates and levels of autonomy apply in different countries;
Have the support and leadership of policy makers, and adopt a medium- to long-term focus;
Clearly identify the roles, functions, and interactions of key public and private sector stakeholders and bring them together in an effective manner;
Recognise the value of strong dialogue between government, industry, and civil society (including social partners and academic institutions) in the development, implementation and monitoring phases;
Fully consider the trade-offs and complementarities with related policy areas, including transport, environment, culture, security, education, agriculture, new technologies, digital transformation, and wider economic policy;
Identify win-win solutions that deliver stability for industry and promote economic growth, quality jobs, and prosperity for countries and regions;
Promote environmentally sustainable growth and support country efforts to meet national and international commitments;
Encourage tourism development and the creation of added value based on identified comparative advantages, diverse high quality tourism offerings, and sustainable management of natural and cultural resources;
Use tourism as an engine for inclusive growth, to create quality jobs, business and regional development opportunities, mitigate the negative impacts on local communities, and better spread the benefits to all people and territories.
We note that in-depth analyses of megatrends may better enable policy makers to bring currently unforeseen and emerging issues onto the strategic policy agenda, develop potential scenarios and policy responses, and better assist public and private actors to capitalise on opportunities and challenges as they arise.
We agree that in order to develop a forward-looking agenda for the tourism sector, governments at all levels would benefit from developing, as appropriate, comprehensive long-term plans. This provides the consistency and certainty the tourism industry requires, and creates a framework for sustainable and inclusive growth.
We should strive to, when appropriate, mobilise investment, to stimulate growth and maximise the environmental, economic and social returns generated by tourism. Attracting tourism investment is a highly competitive process in many countries, given tourism’s potential to contribute to economic development and need for quality infrastructure, combined with constrained public budgets and a shortage of investment capital.
We agree that the nature of investment, the infrastructure it creates and the tourism flows it supports create economic, environmental and social opportunities and challenges. Active policies and programs can serve to increase the quality and effectiveness of investment in tourism, in order to generate value, enhance attractiveness and competitiveness, support SMEs and local development, and manage growing demand in a sustainable and inclusive manner.
We welcome the OECD work currently underway promoting a whole-of-government approach to tourism, analysing the policy implications of megatrends for tourism and examining effective policy approaches to enhance the quality and sustainability of tourism investment.
