The search for meaningful tourism indicators: the case of the International Upper Great Lakes Study

Abstract

The recent rise in evidence-based policy-making means tourism interests are increasingly impacted by policies informed by quantifiable data. With complex issues impacting stakeholders with differing and often competing interests, policy-makers sometimes commission large interdisciplinary studies to help synthesize the potential data that can be used to inform the policy-making process. To help manage the data generated by these studies, study leaders often set guidelines for the types of data that can be used to inform recommendations, often requiring quantitative indicators. However, because of the nature of tourism, and the difficulties associated with isolating tourism activity, the data requirements of these studies may favor other stakeholders who have interests in the policies resulting from these types of studies. This case study of the International Upper Great Lakes Study provides an example of a large multidisciplinary study that aimed to inform policies for managing water levels in the North American Great Lakes by examining the impacts of water-level fluctuations on six stakeholder groups, including tourism. In this case, the data requirements of the study prevented the tourism industry's needs from being fully addressed in the final recommendations to policy-makers. This paper makes a contribution to the literature by examining the specific challenges that the tourism industry faces when evidence is required to inform the decisions of policy-makers. ResumenEl reciente incremento del desarrollo de políticas basadas en la evidencia significa que los intereses del turismo están cada vez más influidos por las políticas creadas a partir de datos cuantificables. Teniendo en cuenta aspectos complejos que impactan en grupos de interés con intereses dispares y, con frecuencia, en competencia, los responsables políticos encargan, en ocasiones, amplios estudios interdisciplinares para ayudar a sintetizar los datos potenciales que pueden ser utilizados en el proceso de creación de políticas. Para ayudar a gestionar los datos generados por estos estudios, sus líderes establecen a menudo directrices para los tipos de datos que pueden ser utilizados con el fin de alumbrar las recomendaciones, exigiendo, muchas veces, indicadores cuantitativos. Sin embargo, debido a la naturaleza del turismo, y a las dificultades asociadas con el aislamiento de la actividad turística, los requisitos para los datos de estos estudios pueden favorecer a aquellos grupos de interés que tienen interés en las políticas resultantes de este tipo de estudios. El caso del Estudio Internacional de los Grades Lagos Superiores proporciona un ejemplo de un gran estudio multidisciplinar que pretende asesorar las políticas para la gestión de los niveles de agua en los Grandes Lagos de Norteamérica mediante el examen de los impactos de las fluctuaciones de los niveles del agua en seis grupos de interés, incluyendo el turismo. En este caso, los requisitos de datos del estudio impedían abordar completamente las necesidades de la industria turística en ...

Evidence-informed planning for tourism

“…While McLoughlin and Hanrahan's (2019) longitudinal study on tourism planning in Ireland found a slight shift towards Local Authorities embracing greater levels of sustainability, the scarcity of on-going research and the measuring and monitoring of a range of tourism impacts by Irelands Local Authorities not only appears to refute what Head (2008) identifies as the essence of the design and implementation of programmes but also against the recommendations of the European Commission [EC] (2016) which continue to emphasise the important of collecting data on a broad range of issues relevant to tourism to help build an accurate picture of tourist activity at local level. Therefore, it would be necessary to discuss the reasons behind this lack of evidence-informed planning for tourism in Ireland. Despite what has been considered previously by McCole and Joppe (2014), it is clear from this study is that the vast majority of Local Authorities in Ireland do not benefit from or gathering quality data on tourism activity. The absence of sufficient data has been raised previously by Scott and Becken (2010) when they discussed how the lack of information on climate change, carbon footprint and waste management can impede upon the progress towards greater sustainability in tourism.…”

“…Evidence-informed planning for tourism Head (2008) discussed how evidence has become central to the design, implementation and evaluation of policies and programmes. From a tourism perspective McCole and Joppe (2014) argue that gathering data on tourist activity is important for not only its future sustainability, but also how the destination is managed. Taking the connection between Local Authorities and tourism planning, recent studies have argued that the absence of data on tourism activity deprives Local Authorities of the opportunity to get ahead of challenges that tourism may present (Maguire & McLoughlin, 2019;McLoughlin et al, 2018).…”

Evidence-informed Planning for Tourism

“…Evidence-informed planning for tourism Head (2008) discussed how evidence has become central to the design, implementation and evaluation of policies and programmes. From a tourism perspective McCole and Joppe (2014) argue that gathering data on tourist activity is important for not only its future sustainability, but also how the destination is managed. Taking the connection between Local Authorities and tourism planning, recent studies have argued that the absence of data on tourism activity deprives Local Authorities of the opportunity to get ahead of challenges that tourism may present (Maguire & McLoughlin, 2019;McLoughlin et al, 2018).…”