Aligning Tourism with Sustainable Development Goals: A Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration Framework

Abstract

Studies reveal that a multi-stakeholder collaboration framework (MSCF) exists in tourism governance, but in a fragmented, mandated regime and a structure of power and commitment to policy issues that perpetuates inequality. To strengthen procedural aspects of governance, participation is largely consultative, with limited influence for community and civil society actors. Therefore, partnership and dialogue legitimize pre-defined policy priorities and track a path that validates transformative governance outcomes. As a social phenomenon, stakeholders can institutionalize the rules and priorities that shape a destination’s development, and rather than being purely technical arrangements, these frameworks reflect relational processes, with actors' interests, benefits, and burdens being well allocated. This paper provides a critical discourse on the extent to which MSCF promotes sustainability, going beyond conventional presumptions related to collaboration. Using a qualitative case study approach, it draws on semi-structured interviews and policy document analysis to assess collaborative processes. In terms of outcomes, MSCFs pursue economic ends more effectively than social or environmental growth-oriented development priorities. Efficacy is more dependent on the intensity of cooperation, institutionalization of power sharing, accountability, and learning. This study contributes to the literature on collaboration for governance and sustainability by identifying the conditions under which MSCFs can deliver transformative sustainability outcomes.