ABSTRACT
The starting point for the paper is an empirical survey of important decision-makers in
both politics and the tourism industry. Bavaria was chosen as study area primarily for the
following two reasons: first, the study area is the leading German tourism destination in
terms of both business volume and number of overnight stays (FUR, 2010). Likewise, it
is one of the most important European tourism areas (Bayerisches Staatsministerium fu¨r
Wirtschaft, Infrastruktur, Verkehr und Technologie, 2010). Second, in 2008, the Bavarian
state government officially recognized tourism as one of its leading economic sectors and
tourism is to be expanded greatly in the coming years by means of political measures at the
state, federal and European Union levels (Bayerische Staatsregierung, 2008, p. 26).
