The Political Economy of Tourism Development in the Greater Mekong Sub-region

Examining and assessing tourism policy formulation, tourism planning and implementation of tourism development in the countries of the Greater Mekong Sub-region highlights the interface between theory and praxis with attendant tensions that often produce dissonance rather than harmony. There are two over-arching fields with which a practitioner of tourism development must be familiar: the political/governance arena and the socio-cultural system and structure of the country concerned. The first provides political parameters within which policy formulation and development planning will be accepted or rejected, and the second provides a value system which will often determine whether a proposal is acceptable or undesirable (even offensive); and together both shape the directions that need to be taken for successful implementation. This paper focuses on the first field, politics/governance; and by analyzing the political economy of tourism development through the concepts of economies in transition, 'politique du ventre' ('politics of the belly'), shadow states and implementation gap theory, the need for practitioners of tourism development to focus as much on understanding the internal politics and structures of governance as on technical issues and to work through political acumen and diplomacy, is foregrounded. Transition states present many challenges by virtue of the dynamics of change which see the goal posts moving and being moved rather than remaining fixed and static, and tourism development interventions designed to achieve greater economic benefits, poverty alleviation and improved infrastructure that can serve both residents and visitors, must be flexibly delivered.