James Kennell, Department of Marketing, Events and Tourism, University of Greenwich, Old Royal Naval College, Park Row, London, SE10 9LS, United Kingdom.

Over the last thirty years of research into tourism policy, there has been a dominant assumption that the appropriate role of the state in tourism is mostly settled. The state has a legitimate role in the tourism industry, but it is essentially one of ‘steering and not rowing’. This assumption has developed against the backdrop of the neoliberal shift towards small states, powerful markets and light touch policy interventions in industry. This research note argues that the measures that have been taken by governments around the world in respect of their tourism industries, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, are sufficiently significant and long-term to warrant a re-appraisal of the role of the state in tourism. Specifically, this note makes the case for a renewed focus on research into tourism policy in non-Western contexts, where the role of the state has not been as constrained by the neoliberal shift, and for an increase in international comparative policy research, which has been notably absent in the tourism policy field to date.

Keywords: Tourism policy; COVID-19; neoliberalism; role of the state

Suggested citation: Kennell, J. (2020). Tourism Policy Research after the COVID-19 Pandemic: Reconsidering the Role of the State in Tourism.  Skyline Business Journal, 16(1), pp 68-72. DOI: https://doi.org/10.37383/SBJ160106 

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James Kennell, Department of Marketing, Events and Tourism, University of Greenwich, Old Royal Naval College, Park Row, London, SE10 9LS, United Kingdom.

Kennell, J. (2020). Tourism Policy Research after the COVID-19 Pandemic: Reconsidering the Role of the State in Tourism.  Skyline Business Journal, 16(1), pp 68-72. DOI: https://doi.org/10.37383/SBJ160106