Stakeholder perspectives on the European Union tourism policy framework and their preferences on the type of involvement

Abstract

Abstract Despite a growing body of literature on regional trading agreements and tourism, little empirical evidence exists on how tourism policy is formulated at the supranational level. The study focuses on the European Union and employs stakeholder interviews to construct the institutional environment for tourism and to identify potential areas for involvement in tourism. Four different approaches are identified ranging from maintaining the status quo to a common tourism policy. It is concluded that because of the complexities of the institutional environment for tourism and the diversity of opinion among stakeholders, a significant change in the status quo is unlikely to happen. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.