Developing and Testing a Suite of Institutional Indices to Underpin the Measurement and Management of Tourism Destination Transformation

Abstract

Economic, social, and environmental transformation of destinations as a consequence of tourism has been observed and studied extensively within the tourism literature. transformation theory has evolved as a tool for understanding structural economic, social, or environmental change, which is driven by institutions. there is an emerging body of research that has sought to identify the institutional aspects of the tourism transformation process. Despite this, there has been limited development of tools that can measure institutions, inhibiting the development of long-run decision-making models that governments can use when developing policies for tourism destination development. As a result this research contributes a suite of institutional indices that can be used by tourism managers and planners to monitor, evaluate, and benchmark the tourism industry's institutions. Drawing from the organizational change literature, the proposed indices focus on competition, management processes, data and research capabilities, collaboration efforts, bench-marking processes, learning ability, and agility and adaptability. this research is an important step in developing combined structural and institutional models that will contribute to the development and implementation of decision-making tools to assist destinations seeking to achieve long-term sustainable tourism transformation.