Rethinking "Public Issue" in Tourism: A Philosophical Approach to Tourism Public Issues

Tourism has emerged as one of the fastest-growing global industries, offering a wide range of economic, socio-cultural, and environmental benefits. However, the expansion of this industry has also brought about numerous public issues and challenges that require solutions or at least mitigation through public policy interventions. Given the issue-driven nature of the public policy process, tourism-related issues face constant competition with other emerging issues from various sectors for inclusion in the policy cycle. It is argued that the first step towards success in this competition lies in a comprehensive understanding of the issues in this domain. This paper aims to examine philosophical approaches to defining tourism public issue. It adopts a descriptive-analytical approach to explore a spectrum of perspectives, ranging from objectivist to subjectivist views, on defining tourism public issues. Findings show that, the nature of tourism public issues is a combination of objective characteristics at the tourism destination and the subjective interpretations of members of the host community. Finally, considering the diversity and dynamism of these issues and their inherent complexities, it is evident that the formulation of tourism public policies aimed at addressing or mitigating the emerging issues in this industry necessitates the active collaboration and participation of various stakeholders, including governments, tourism businesses, local communities, and tourists.

Rethinking "Public Issue" in Tourism: A Philosophical Approach to Tourism Public Issues Keywords:

Public Issue , Philosophical Approaches , Objectivist Perspective , subjectivist Perspective , Tourism Public Issue