Tourism industry responses to public-private partnership arrangements for destination management organisations in small island economies: a case study of Jersey, Channel Islands Samantha Chaperon

Abstract

Abstract:Since the 1970s, in many developed countries, governance arrangements for tourism have been revised in response to significant challenges faced by national economies and the associated changing political contexts. Destination management organisations (DMOs) that have traditionally been part of public-sector structures have been shifted towards the realm of the private sector and are now operated in a collaborative way, with public-private partnerships (PPPs). This paper takes a governance theory approach and examines tourism industry stakeholders' responses to a proposed public-private partnership arrangement for the local destination management organisation in Jersey, a British Isle. The period under study is 2006 to 2012, a time when public sector governance arrangements for tourism were experiencing significant change in the UK context. Stakeholders acknowledged and agreed the common benefits associated with PPPs, such as greater efficiencies and expertise, but they also identified in particular the various reasons why a standard PPP model would not be appropriate for Jersey's DMO because of the island characteristics of the destination. These stakeholders' responses to a new PPP model are better understood by examining the relationship between governance and the concept of 'islandness'.

A Constructivist Grounded Theory Investigation of Businesses’ Concerns about Public-Private Partnership Responses Toward COVID-19

“…This study adopts a constructivist GT approach as proposed by Charmaz (2014) to assess how P3s are being pursued in the resort of Marsa Alam, Egypt, a peripheral destination susceptible to tourism growth during past years owing to its sunny beach holidays. Peripheral destinations' businesses' perceptions toward the rethinking of P3s are hardly ever placed in a valid theoretical context in the wake of pandemics (Chaperon, 2017). GT methodology is considered a suitable tool for better understanding a structured rapport between social stakeholders and how the rapport and collaborations vigorously create actuality (Wondirad et al, 2020).…”

“…Despite the business-evident advantages and stimulus to P3 strategies, notable concerns also endure among tourism entrepreneurs. Chaperon (2017) identified businesses' more frequent concerns about P3 strategies as a lack of consideration as to how to meet employees' rights at the lowest possible losses and the absence of estimating businesses' perceptions toward required levels of public-private cooperation. It is contended that while these concerns exist, the strategy that they are recognized and approached nationally has been confined by the absence of consultation of Egyptian tourism entrepreneurs and employees.…”

“…Further, many studies suggest that not all businesses' concerns relate only to meeting employees' rights and leveraging levels of public-private cooperation; other concerns, like the renewed role of government, publicprivate trust, thinking geographically, funding, and business vulnerability to unexpected crises must also be recognized (Chaperon, 2017;UNWTO, 2020).…”

“…In particular, the study discovered fresh theoretical insights for 'businesses' concerns' regarding P3 responses in uncertain times, as detailed in Table 1, which differs from the typical perspective offered in the theoretical literature and summarised by earlier studies. For example, Chaperon (2017) and Wondirad et al (2020) defined three core features (i.e., involvement as a business priority, cross-sector alliances, and stakeholder collaboration) that are common as the primary concerns of businesses in terms of tourism P3 responses. These characteristics are used in academic literature to compare and contrast P3 strategies and core categories.…”

“…Partnership is defined as an agreement where two or more partners (from the private, public, and/or mixed sectors) agree to collaborate to achieve their mutual interests (Chaperon, 2017). In the tourism field, publicprivate partnerships (P3s) have often been recognized as a means of cooperation (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2020) that seeks to foster tourism development (Chaperon, 2017) by drawing on the success achieved by partners to help deliver sustained growth for tourism-connected enterprises on a national level, while ensuring that government agencies address the critical needs of the national private sector (Wondirad et al, 2020). In reality, however, it is common to detect a distinction-between business and government people-in interpreting this understanding, mainly due to differences in individuals' perceptions toward P3s' priorities (Dewulf & Garvin, 2019).…”