The role of leaders in stakeholder engagement in a tourism destination

This Master's thesis investigates the important role of leaders and stakeholders in tourism development. In particular, the study wants to investigate the role of leaders in stakeholder engagement in a tourism destination. The study aims to explore how leaders interact with stakeholders, what their motives for their engagement are and how networks and leadership styles contribute and influence stakeholder engagement. The existing literature on stakeholder engagement, leadership and networks is taken as starting point to investigate the topic under the perspective of a tourism destination. Twenty semi-guided interviews with leaders, operating in the tourism industry in various organizations, were conducted to gather valuable information. Template analysis was used to develop a coding structure in order to better understand the process of stakeholder engagement in a tourism destination. Subsequently, the template was applied with MAXQDA to the data. The key findings of the study illustrate the importance of stakeholder engagement and the role leaders play by promoting or hindering stakeholder engagement and the corresponding effects it can have on the destination. The study highlights the importance of leaders in stakeholder engagement and displays their responsibility in the matter. The results offer implications for leaders and policy makers operating in tourism to promote stakeholder engagement.submitted by Magdalena LöschUniversity of Innsbruck, Masterarbeit, 2019(VLID)362643