Slocum and Everett (2014) point in the same direction and present somewhat similar
findings. They illustrate that through the provision and distribution of funding, destination
governance approaches strongly affect the allocation of leadership in tourist destinations.
When public funding becomes constrained, DMOs face difficulties in pursuing an inclusive
and resource-based approach to destination management. In such situations, leadership
tends to move away from DMOs to big business players (as they observe, a change that
might come at the expense of small and medium-sized businesses). Moreover, such
changes in destination governance and leadership may be accompanied by an alteration in
destination management strategies, namely a switch from resource-based to
market-oriented approaches. A relevant question in this context is under what conditions
industry-based destination leadership may divert DMOs from their task of tapping situations
of market-failure and providing public goods in destinations (Jamal and Getz, 1995; Buhalis,
2000). Or in other words: does destination leadership necessarily need to reside with DMOs
in order to establish effective, efficient and sustainable destination development?