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.
Regional Tourism Authorities and Tourism Policy Monitoring: The Case of Greek RTOs
The increasing contribution of tourism to a country's growth renders imperatively the need for state intervention. The state tourism agencies' efficiency depends, however, on a well-organized decentralized tourism structure; the decentralisation form varies according to the amount of competencies assigned to regional or local authorities. Decentralisation though can only be effective when Regional Tourism Offices (RTOs) are sufficiently staffed with qualified and experienced workforce and operate under a solid and trustworthy legal framework. The aim of this article is to study the operation and the efficiency of Regional Tourism Offices (RTOs) in Greece. Therefore a primary survey was conducted by the authors, and all offices were called to answer a written questionnaire whereas an interview with their directors provided additional information. The questionnaire investigates their competencies, their structure, the percentage rate of the local agencies' employees inspecting the tourist enterprises in their area of competence as well as the problems they are facing. The results of our survey as well the data given by the Directorate of Control of the Regional Tourism Offices reveal that the most important problems the RTOs facing are the lack of personnel, the legal uncertainty, the bad administrative practice, and issues of minor importance as the inappropriate buildings housing the agencies, the insufficient equipment and the inadequate financial resources. This article is concluded with certain proposals on the improvement of the agencies in terms of efficiency and effectiveness aiming furthermore at the improvement of the Greek national tourism product.
As práticas profissionais no campo público de atenção à saúde bucal: o caso de dois municípios da Bahia
This paper examines the working facilities and processes of dentists in the primary healthcare systems of two towns in Bahia State, Brazil, striving to analyze the extent to which factors related to dental care, training, placement and professional profiles influence their practices. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine dentists in both towns, with work process organization patterns in Municipality C being closer to the structuring principles of Brazil's National Health System than in Municipality E. This seems to be related to management characteristics, with networking links among individual, collective, and preventive clinical activities and planning noted in Municipality C. Despite these differences, the practitioners presented similarities in terms of dual militancy and perceptions of the public and private healthcare fields. The hegemony of the private sector seems to be influencing the professional practices of dentists in the public health system.