The paradigm shift from destination marketing and management to community governance A systemic approach to the destination as a service eco-system

Abstract

Due to increased mobility, digitalisation and globalisation, the old value chains are disrupting and the boundaries between the roles in the markets are blurred; enterprises, customers and residents are both marketers and actors of tourism experiences, creating a context of service eco-systems, where value is co-created in networks that are directly and indirectly interacting with each other. These eco-systems are shaped by institutions and institutional arrangements that the actors are familiar with and act upon. However, the values that are co-created in the network, are not necessarily symmetrical for all actors, and neither are the institutions people follow the same. Hence, unbalance, misunderstandings, and dissatisfaction among the actors, rather than social wellbeing and satisfaction, can grow and flourish in the tourism destination. This thesis explores how a deeper understanding of co-created value processes in destinations can support the achievement of sustainable destinations. The study contributes to the literature by studying the implications of sustainable tourism within the framework of S-D logic. With a systemic approach to destinations as service eco-system, this thesis explore how S-D logic can be used as a framework for sustainable destinations. The main findings from the work are that destinations are dynamic and social systems where all stakeholder acts upon each other’s resources and co-create value for themselves and for others. Destinations cannot be marketed, developed, and managed into sustainability. Instead, destinations’ policy makers need to consider the value co-creating processes and the long-lasting advantages of all the actors that are interacting in an eco-system and use tourism as a means to create sustainable local communities. This requires a holistic methodological stance and a shift of the mental models of tourism from marketing and management to sustainable community governance, where stewardship, collaboration and involvement are integrated key elements.