Factors affecting the attitude of tourism-destination local authorities towards sustainable planning tools in a networking context: the Balearic Sustainability Network

Abstract

Empirical evidence regarding Local Agenda 21 (LA21) seems to indicate that higher LA21 dissemination is linked to networking. However, it is not entirely clear which features explain the favourable attitude of local authorities towards networks. This research takes a step forward towards filling this gap by studying the variables that are able to create favourable attitude towards participative sustainable planning tools by tourism-destination local authorities in a networking context. We focus on tourism destinations as singularly interesting areas for studying sustainability issues. Our research context is a region in Spain, the Balearic Islands, which was chosen due to its great dependence on tourism and its apparent involvement with LA21 processes. Our findings suggest that favourable attitudes are associated with a mix of variables that reflect the management approach of the promoters, the internal characteristics of the municipalities and the benefits emerging from networking. From a more disaggregated view, more cognitive-related variables (such as prior expertise, purposive benefits and learning) seem to be more important than more affective-related variables (such as entertainment, trust, identification and relations with network promoters) to explain attitudes towards LA21.

网络环境下影响旅游目的地态度和当地政府可持续规划的因素—巴利阿里可持续发展网络

关于“地方二十一世纪议程”的实证研究似乎表明较高的地方二十一世纪议程的传播和互联网有关。但是，尚不完全清楚那个特点可以诠释当地当局对待网络的有力态度。本研究通过学习在网络环境下地方当局是怎么通过可持续规划来实现可持续态度的变量，来对于填补可持续发展研究的空白做出了贡献。我们通过把旅游目的地当作兴趣地来研究探讨可持续发展问题。本文研究了西班牙巴利群里岛，依据是它很大程度上依赖于旅游业以及非常投入到地方二十一世纪议程中。我们的研究结果表明，有利的态度与变量的组合相关联，反映了营销管理办法，市政的内部特征和联网带来的好处。从更细致的角度来看，更多和认知相关的变量（如专业知识，目的性利益和学习）似乎比情感相关的变量（如娱乐，信任， 识别，并与网络促销员关系）在解释对待地方二十一世纪议程的态度上更重要。

Keywords:

• Local Agenda 21
• sustainability
• strategic planning
• networking benefits
• tourism destinations

关键词:

• 合作规划
• 环境管理
• 旅游目的地

Acknowledgements

We are most grateful to the editor, Bill Bramwell, and four reviewers for comments and suggestions made on earlier drafts of this article.

Additional information

Funding

The research was funded by the Spanish Government [grant number ECO 2010-20792]; the Basque Government [grant number GIC 12/57], [grant number IT- 601-13], [grant number SAIOTEK SAI/12/55], [grant number S-PE 12UN048]; and the University of the Basque Country [grant number UFI 11/51].

Notes on contributors

Jose M. Barrutia

Jose M. Barrutia holds a PhD in economics and business studies from the University of the Basque Country, Spain. Previously he was consultant manager for Price Waterhouse, worked for public and private sector companies, was head of marketing for a bank and was adviser to the president of the Basque Country for social and economic issues. His research specialisms are networking, sustainable development and service management. His articles have appeared in International Journal of Service Industry Management, The Service Industries Journal, International Journal of Market Research, Environment and Planning A, European Urban & Regional Studies, European Planning Studies, Regional Studies, Journal of Environmental Planning and Management and Geoforum, among others.

Carmen Echebarria

Carmen Echebarria holds a PhD in economics from the University of the Basque Country and an MBA from the University of Deusto, both in Spain. She has held various academic posts in the University of the Basque Country. She has research specialisms in sustainable development, policy networks and regional governance. Her articles have been published in International Journal of Service Industry Management, The Service Industries Journal, Geoforum, European Urban & Regional Studies, European Planning Studies, Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Regional Studies and Environment and Planning A, among others.