Untitled

fragmentation and the spatial separation of origins
and destinations encourage joint activity. Interdependence
leads to a need to coordinate the
activities of the different sectors such as accommodation,
transportation and attractions,
while smallness and distance from fragmented
markets may give rise to united action to achieve
economies of scale and accomplish goals
beyond the reach of individual operators. Diversity
and interdependence also generate issues of public
goods where by the benefits of activities such
as destination promotion are enjoyed by a wide
range of individuals and enterprises and thus, it is
argued, are best undertaken jointly or by the public
sector. Similar arguments result from the negative
impacts which tourism may generate. However,
organisations generally have little direct control
over the type and quality of the products and
services being offered at the destination and to be
effective depend heavily on their ability to coordinate
and take a leadership role.
Functions undertaken by organisations include
marketing, visitor servicing, development, planning,
research, policy making, regulation, human
resource development and lobbying. Marketing,
which is the most common among them, is
seen to be one of the most direct means of fostering
growth, a function where the benefits of joint
action are widely recognised. Some organisations,
through limited resources or a desire to specialise,
concentrate on a single function. Others exercise a
range of functions due to their greater resources,
the diverse interests of their members or recognition
of the interdependence of activities such as
marketing and development, research and planning.
Differences may also occur from one scale to
another. Tourist servicing is most commonly
undertaken by local organisations through the
operation of visitor information centres.
Marketing, planning and research is frequently
the domain of national and regional organisations
due, for example, to their greater ability to
develop and create stronger images in distant
markets or undertake such activities more effectively
at these scales. The number and type of
functions undertaken may also reflect broader
governmental policies of state intervention with
differences occurring between developed and
developing countries or between market-led and
tourism organisations 587
centrally planned economies. Likewise, the functions
exercised may be influenced by the level of
growth; development may be a more common
role in emerging destinations, marketing emphasised
when demand declines and planning when
problems of saturation arise.
Organisations may also differ in the way in
which they are structured and the extent to which
they depend on public and private sector funding.
Traditionally, the public sector has been the
dominant and often sole member and organisations
have taken the form of a government ministry
or department run along bureaucratic lines,
especially at the national and regional levels. In
the late 1980s and 1990s, a trend developed
towards greater public±private sector partnerships
through the creation of more flexible structures
such as foundations, boards and limited liability
companies. Often there has been a separation of
the more bureaucratic functions such as planning,
policy making and regulation from more commercially
oriented ones such as marketing. The latter
requires greater freedom to operate in a competitive
market place and which benefit from mechanisms,
which allow more private sector input into
decision making and facilitate cofinancing of
the organisations' activities. Local bodies, which
are closer to the day-to-day activities of businesses
and in more direct contact with tourists, often
have a much greater private sector membership
but generally still depend on local authority grants
and assistance.
The development of organisations at various
levels with different goals, functions and structures,
but also with a large degree of mutual interdependence,
means that their collective network exists in
most countries. Concerted promotional campaigns
in the markets, for example, need to be complemented
by the delivery of tourism information
services and the development of appropriate
products at the destinations and vice versa. The
characteristics of the network, the number, nature
and type of organisations that comprise it, and the
relationships between these bodies may be
mandated by statute, established on a voluntary,
co-operative basis, or reflect the outcome of
competitive forces and resource availability. Given
the large degree of public funding which has
supported many organisations, the network is often