As Valente et al. (2014) rightly underscore, leadership theories have been developed mainly
in the organizational context of corporations. Thus, in the context of tourist destinations these
theories and notions need to be applied in a reflexive and mindful manner: ‘‘These
ambiguities and the challenges of studying leadership in RTOs [regional tourism
organizations] suggest that while traits, behavioral, contingency and integrative theories
of leadership provide important background understanding it is important to understand
regional tourism [and destination] leadership within its context’’ (Valente et al., 2014).