Dimensions and models of tourism governance in a tourism system: The experience of Catalonia

• Published in: Journal of destination marketing & management 2020-09, Vol.17, p.100465, Article 100465
• Main Authors: Bono i Gispert, Octavi, Anton Clavé, Salvador
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Catalonia; Dimensions of governance; Models of governance; Public policy; Tourism governance
• ISSN: 2212-571X; 2212-5752
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jdmm.2020.100465

The concept of governance has achieved a growing presence in academic debates in recent years, although it has not done so in the same way in the area of tourism destination management. The research presented here allows us to see how the actors in the Catalan tourism system perceive and understand governance and identifies dimensions and models of governance. A categorization comprising seven dimensions of tourism governance (participation, coherence, responsibility, effectiveness, know-how/quality, openness, and simplification) is provided through the construction of a semantic network based on the actors' understanding of their own practices. By applying principal component analysis to the set of variables associated with each category, five different models of governance approaches are obtained (Transparent Strategy, Liable Outcomes, Hermetic Results-oriented-ism, Democratic Moralism, and Democratic Bureaucracy). •Governance models are based more on cultural factors than on organization attributes.•Governance models go beyond management styles and relations between organizations.•Participation and coherence are the most valuable dimensions for destination governance.•Complementary dimensions: Responsibility, effectiveness, know-how, openness, simplification.•Transparent strategy is the predominant tourism governance model in Catalonia.