Tourism in common: policy flows and participatory management in the Tourism Council of Barcelona

ABSTRACT

This study aims to conceptualise the organisational framing of tourism management in touristified cities, focusing on the assessment of participatory processes of tourism planning. A grounded theory approach is used to analyse and discuss the role of the newly created consultive Tourism Council of Barcelona. An analysis of in-depth interviews undertaken with representatives of local stakeholders led to Common Pool Resources and policy cycle theories as conceptual framework to support a precise characterisation of tourism-related conflicts in Barcelona. The results reveal difficulties to obtain consensual strategic views for tourism development, although working groups contribute to cooperation between stakeholders.

KEYWORDS:

• Governance
• tourism planning
• city planning
• urban tourism
• common pool resources
• destination management

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

João Romão acknowledges grant number JSPS 20K12392 from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Kakenhi). Peter Nijkamp acknowledges a grant by the Romanian Ministry of Research and Innovation PN-III-P4-ID-PCCF-2016-0166 (ReGrow);Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities [FPU15/06947];