Page 183 - Tourism The International Business

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Leadership roles—chamber of commerce, when there is a separate tourism association

Gaining public support or awareness. Encourage Chamber members to actively participate in the
development, promotion, and operation of the community's tourism program.
Develop community publicity materials which relate community economic development to the tourism industry
and the success of a tourism program to overall community development including economic, social, and cultural.
Coordination. Create a committee or council to advise the tourism association and to present Chamber of
Commerce interests.

Develop membership which includes representatives from the economic, political, social, historic, cultural,
educational, and religious interests in the community.
Operational. Develop, if not otherwise provided for, a visitors information center.
Provide, or work with local government to provide, adequate rest areas and related facilities for visitors and
tourists.
Promotion. Participate in regional and state programs to promote tourism.
Leadership roles—local government, where the tourism association is a part of chamber or
separate

Operational. Provide zoning ordinances and building codes which facilitate the development of tourist
attractions, protect historic structures or sites, and provide maximum assurance against alienating citizens with
regard to tourism.
Implement ordinances which tend to maximize the effectiveness of advertising signs without detracting from the
scenery, tradition, decor, or heritage of the community.
Establish regulations which protect important resources for local residents, for example, scarce water supplies.
Provide ordinances for effective crowd control to minimize disturbances which would be distasteful to both local

residents and tourists.
Develop effective parking and traffic controls to minimize congestion.
Landscape public areas to enhance the beauty and attractiveness of the community for both tourists and local
residents.
Provide adequate refuse control.
Give adequate financial support to the community's tourism program, for example, pass a lodging tax for
funding the local tourism association.
Provide or work with other community organizations to provide adequate rest areas and related facilities.

Imposed organization
A word about imposed organization: because tourism is many times regional or statewide in nature, and because
states are sometimes willing to share some of their financial resources in the form of matching funds, some specific

types of organizations may be dictated in order to qualify. In the US, for example, to qualify for state matching
funds Huntington County, Pennsylvania had to develop a formal organizational structure which met the
requirements of the state. A travel promotion agency had to be organized with its directors appointed by county
commissioners. The directors, in turn, appointed all staff members including a full-time executive director. Thus,
the operations of the tourism effort are subject to some political control.

Tourism the International Business 183 A Global Text