ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with how public policy in tourism is applied globally, and builds upon the various approaches, frameworks and theories discussed in Chapter 2. Furthermore, it describes public policy’s ability or inability to influence tourism directly or indirectly, and its impact on various countries’ economies, culture and environment. In particular this chapter is influenced by the challenges brought on by the economic environments in which tourism operates in the 21st Century, as exemplified by mass globalization. This has been compounded further by SARS; war in Iraq; September 11; Bali, Mombassa; foot-and-mouth; and on-going zonal, regional, and religious conflicts as evidenced in: Israel and Palestine; North and Southern Ireland; Russia and Chechnya; India and Pakistan; the USA and Afghanistan, and the UN and Iraq.
