Tourism administration in the USA
Abstract The attitudes of US federal level administration to tourism in the USA over the past 20 years are discussed in relation to the background and signing into law of the 1981 National Tourism Policy Act, the first major piece of US tourism federal legislation since the 1961 International Travel Act. Focus is on the interplay between the Administration, Legislature and the private sector which led to the development of the Act. After a period of uncertainty the Act appeared to reaffirm federal support for tourism by raising it to Under Secretary level responsibility in the Department of Commerce and by establishing a new agency, the US Travel and Tourism Administration. However, since then the Administration has appeared to back-pedal by authorizing only a small budget and low staffing levels at the USTTA.
Developments in understanding tourism policy
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the current stage of the development of the study of tourism policy and some of the key issues that have come in for attention. Design/methodology/approach – The work is based on a review of the literature relating to tourism policy over a 40-year period. Based on one of the models of tourism policy-making, it uses a five-part structure to organise the literature and for each part, it explores the issues dealt with by researchers over the period. Findings – After a slow start, most aspects of tourism policy are now well-covered in the literature, and notably, there has been a marked quickening in the pace of study over the past decade. Influences on policy are well-documented, as are the roles of the different stakeholders in the policy process. This contrasts with the understanding of the work of the policymakers, which is less well-developed, as is the nature and influence of the different forms of policy output. Neoliberalism and governance have been pr...
Cultural constraints on the delivery of HIV/AIDS prevention in Ireland.
HIV appeared in Ireland following an opiate epidemic in the early 1980s. Initially, however, the gay community mounted the only response to the spread of the virus while the implementation of early actions by the government was hampered by the constructions of the disease within Irish society. This paper considers the influence of the religious hierarchy in both the development of AIDS policy and in the shaping of public perceptions of the disease and those affected. A qualitative methodology is used to examine the role of such cultural constraints in an evaluation of the social context within which the prevention of HIV infection occurs. Three key issues pertinent to the policy context in Ireland are explored in depth. These are the role of the Catholic Church, the influences on health education programmes, particularly information giving, and the development of services and other interventions. These findings are discussed within the social and political contexts in which health policy is formulated.