Page 179 - Tourism The International Business

This book is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License

9. The management of

tourism

Learning objectives
At the end of this chapter the reader will be able to:
• Describe the importance of community leadership to the management of tourism and show how leadership
emerges and can be developed within a community.
• Describe the roles of leadership within a community.

• Develop a program to coordinate the community components of tourism.
• Understand the importance of visitor services and discuss how that function should be organized.
• Organize an effective program strengthening the public's awareness of tourism.
• Be able to define and correctly use the following terms: autocratic leader, democratic leader, laissez-faire
leader, self-selection, promotional mix, advertising, publicity, public relations, sales promotion, personal

selling,visitor services, hosting, tourist information center.
How to develop leadership 25
The value of leadership to tourism development
Competent, motivated leadership is vital in the planning and development of tourism as an economic force

within the community. Sufficient facilities, finances, and all the other aspects necessary to produce a
comprehensive, coordinated tourism program stand still unless adequate leadership can direct the human,
physical, and financial resources into a comprehensive, coordinated tourism program.
However, leadership is often the least considered aspect in tourism development. The concept itself has a variety
of meanings. Some people think of leadership as an innate personal attribute. Persons may become "symbolic"
leaders because they are presidents of banks or the managers of motels, but they may be completely wrong for the
job of leader of a tourism council. The symbolic leader has the power associated with a particular role and its

expectations. The symbolic leader is powerful because people expect him to be.
Effective leadership is a learned behavioral skill which includes the ability to help others achieve their potential
as team members. Strong leadership is vital and every effort should be made to recruit leaders who have already
gained the respect of the citizens and are capable of efficiently using all of the available resources.

25 In 1978, the then United States Travel Service published a series of booklets titled Tourism U.S.A. The project
was coordinated by Glenn D Weaver, Department of Recreation and Parks Administration, University of
Missouri-Columbia. The series was updated in 1987.
This chapter consists of a reprint of sections of Volume II, Development: Planning for Tourism, and Volume III,

Implementation: Visitor Services.

Tourism the International Business 179 A Global Text