Cooperation among public and private tourism sectors in the Costa Blanca Region (Spain)

Abstract

Cooperation between public and private tourism sectors is a key factor when trying to address efforts towards common objectives, thus unifying policies and strategies. However, such cooperation does not always achieve the most suitable aims and often materialises in inefficient actions and tourism policies that can negatively affect the competitiveness of a certain destination or region, ultimately leading to a poor exploitation of the resources and skills available. Therefore, it becomes essential to identify the reasons for that inefficient cooperation, as it will permit to suggest new working approaches structured around a common objective basis. Taking as a reference the opinion of the most representative tourism business sectors at the Costa Blanca, the present paper tries to highlight the existence of relevant failures regarding cooperation between the public administration and the business sector within the tourism context. The paper is based on the results of several round table discussions with representatives of the most relevant tourism business sectors in the Alicante province (hotels, apartments, campsites, travel agencies, convention bureaux, etc.) complemented with a survey among the participants in those round tables carried out by means of an anonymous questionnaire. The results clearly show that inefficiency prevails in the cooperation between the business sector and the public administration. Furthermore, the participants highlight a number of specific actions that could guide administration policies and strategies towards the improvement of competitiveness levels for such a relevant economic sector in the Alicante province.