Destination leadership and destination governance
Valente et al. (2014) analyze two Brazilian regional tourism organizations that operate in the
same geographical area, but are characterized by different governance models
(bureaucracy-led and market-led models). They identify four leadership capacities
(capacity to produce results, capacity to mobilize followers, articulation and
communication of goals and actions, articulation of roles and responsibilities) that
promote effective leadership. By applying these capacities to the two RTOs with different
governance models, they capture elements of the relationship between destination
governance and destination leadership: Hierarchical and bureaucracy-led governance
seems coupled with transactional and distributed leadership (Spillane et al., 2004), whereas
market governance has its strengths in transformational leadership (Avolio, 2007).
Beritelli and Bieger (2014) build on existing research on destination management and
governance, and develop a notion of systemic leadership. On the one hand they elaborate
on the distinction between destination governance and destination leadership. According to
them, destination governance emphasizes the importance of rules and organizations as a
coordination mechanism in tourist destinations; destination leadership switches the attention
to (collective) agency ‘‘through personal visions and motivation’’. On the other hand, they
discuss and empirically test the roles of collective trust and effective communication in
strengthening systemic leadership and influencing tourist destinations. Compared to trust
and communication, mutual understanding, interpersonal accessibility, and mutual
likeability seem to be less important in ensuring systemic destination leadership.
Slocum and Everett (2014) focus on the differences between a government-supported and
an industry-led governance of tourist destinations, and the associated allocation of
destination leadership among the various destination actors. Moreover, they highlight
connections between the adoption of market-based and resource-based destination
strategies and destination leadership. In detail, the authors investigate the recent changes in
British policy and their effects on destination management. They take the case of
Bedfordshire as an example to illustrate the consequences of the switch from
government-led to industry-led tourism development and marketing. This switch
prompted a transfer of the burden of tourism development from national and regional
levels to the local level, as well as from public to private funding. Additionally, a
market-based approach replaced the resource-based orientation. According to the authors,
the switch in governance has also disrupted power structures, and altered the leadership
towards those providing the most valuable resources (mainly funding). Under the new
governance system, strategies are predominantly informed by powerful industry
stakeholders (‘‘big business’’) rather than by a universal appraisal of the destination’s
resources or by small and medium-sized enterprises. To sum up, due to changes in
governance, leadership and power seem to have been restricted to a narrow business elite.
Destination leadership and network structure
Applying a network perspective to destination leadership, Zehrer et al. (2014) discuss
networked relationships among destination leaders (‘‘leadership networks’’). In a set of five
Alpine destinations, they investigate the persons enrolled, the fields covered, and the
specific characteristics exposed by such leadership networks. Additionally, they offer some
indications that illustrate a relationship between certain characteristics of leadership
networks and their influence on destination development. In this context, among others, the
importance of variety (in membership), efficiency and the existence of common long-term
goals emerge. What becomes evident from their study is that the main areas covered by
leadership networks comprise exchange of information and coordination of joint interest.