General Overview

There are many different types of organizations involved in tourism, including for-profit businesses, non-profit, and government agencies. Given the complexity of tourism, it is vital there is an awareness of what other organizations within a destination do regarding tourism. Aside from awareness of efforts of other organizations, there also should be collaboration, partnerships, and other ways to work together. The diversity of organizations involved is an aspect that contributes to tourism being so complex.

Tourism organizations can be classified into types of organizations and/or geographic level, among other characteristics. The content here is organized by types of organizations and then by geographic areas. It is also important to keep in mind that important organizations such as convention and visitor bureaus (CVBs) and destination marketing/management organizations (DMOs) may be a non-profit or government organizations. There is no standard structure for such organizations, there are numerous variations.

Types of Organizations

For-Profit

The private sector or for-profit businesses are heavily involved in tourism, ranging from a local to a global level. Put another way, locally owned to a large company that owns/operates throughout the world. Examples of for-profit/businesses involved in tourism include accommodations, food and beverage, attractions, some events (e.g., concerts, college and professional athletics), retail. Some other businesses less evident are also involved in some way in tourism. For example, flower and gift shops, attorneys, accounting firms, technology (e.g., AV providers), and many other business sectors. To relate this to tourism impacts, these are businesses that might benefit from tourism at the indirect and induced levels.

Non-Profit

According to Legal Information Institute (nd) the following are some of the general types of non-profit organizations:

• Churches
• Public schools
• Political organizations
• Volunteer services organizations
• Labor unions
• Professional associations
• Museums
• Some government agencies

Some of the above might be very obvious in terms of their role in tourism. Churches could be attractions. For example, the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France. Public (and private) universities can be an attraction for attendees/spectators of sporting events. In addition, the visiting/opposing team has to travel to the home university which includes transportation, accommodations depending on the opposing team’s travel plans, food and beverage. Spectators might arrive a day or so before the game, or stay a day or so after, and go to other events and attractions. There are many political organizations and government agencies (more on this later in the module) involved in tourism, which is discussed in more detail later in this section. Volunteer services organizations might be sought by events, which generally depend on volunteers (Ma & Draper, 2017). Labor unions are involved in tourism by the respective labor groups providing services within convention centers and other facilities that require labor. However, not all are unionized. Labor and related unions are very important in terms of conventions and trade shows. Professional associations could include examples of associations within academics or industry that have conferences and other types of meetings. Such associations could be statewide, regional, national, and international. An example within tourism is the Travel and Tourism Research Association, which is an international association that also has various geographic level sub-chapters. Members of this example association include primarily marketing and tourism professionals, among others, within all types of organizations (i.e., for-profit, non-profit, government) tourism organizations at all geographic levels.

Not on the list is convention and visitor bureaus (CVBs) or destination marketing/management organizations (DMOs). CVBs will be the common acronym when referring to these organizations.

Government

Government agencies are involved in tourism in some way at all levels (e.g., national, state, county, local). Often government gets involved in tourism for three reasons: economic, environmental, and/or security and political (Morrison et al., 2018).

There are seven roles for government in tourism (Morrison et al., 2018):

• Policy and planning – identify what to develop, what is acceptable and sustainable level of development
• Legislation/regulation – zoning, building permits licensing (to manage development), Visa policy and Visa Waiver Program
• Coordination – with all three types of organizations (i.e., for-profit, non-profit, government) between and within all geographic areas (i.e., national, state, local)
• Development and control – offer incentives for appropriate development enforce policies
• Infrastructure – transportation, sewage, water, etc.
• Operations – rare in the US, but an example is parks (e.g., National Park Service, state and local parks)
• Marketing and research – US Travel and Promotion Act (March 2010) creating Brand USA to market, International Trade Administration – National Travel and Tourism Office does some research)
• Training/education – establish standards (e.g., food standards by US Department of Agriculture), competencies (Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission – TABC)

Geographic Perspective of Tourism Organizations

Worldwide

An example of a worldwide organization involved in tourism is the United Nations with the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

“The management team works towards a comprehensive vision for development of the tourism sector. This includes positioning tourism as a policy priority, establishing thought leadership in knowledge and policy creation, increasing resources and strengthening UNWTO’s capacity through meaningful partnerships” (UNWTO, n.d., para 2)

National

In the US at a national level there are three organizations to be familiar with: U.S. Travel Association, National Travel and Tourism Office, and Brand USA. The U.S. Travel Association (USTA) is not a government agency. USTA represents or advocates for the US tourism industry in Washington, DC. They are membership based, including state and local tourism offices (e.g., CVBs), large corporations, and many other businesses and organizations. USTA also provides some research, events (e.g., conferences), and other programs to help the tourism industry (U.S. Travel Association, 2023).

The National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) is a division of the United States International Trade Administration. The NTTO monitors and provides various tourism related statistics, such as international visitation, tourism exports, travel and tourism balance of trade, and Travel and Tourism Satellite Accounts (TTSA) (International Trade Administration – National Travel and Tourism Office¹, n.d.). In addition to monitoring the various international tourism statistics, the NTTO promotes U.S. policies related to tourism, provides counseling for businesses, monitors regulations, and maintains relationships with the tourism sector (International Trade Administration – National Travel and Tourism Office², n.d.).

Brand USA² (2020) was created and began operations in 2011 following the Travel Promotion Act of 2009. Prior to that, there was not really much international marketing for tourism. Brand USA was created to promote and market tourism to international markets. Brand USA is a public-private partnership with the intent to enrich communities. Brand USA is essentially the marketing agency for international travel to the US. By doing so, Brand USA seeks to leverage benefits of travel (e.g., economic, social) to create more awareness and understanding of different cultures (Brand USA¹, 2020).

State Tourism Offices

Many or all states in the USA have a state tourism office (STO) that is part of the state government’s economic development department. In Texas, the state government agency responsible for tourism is known as Travel Texas. Travel Texas is a division of The Office of the Governor, Economic Development and Tourism (Travel Texas, 2023). Travel Texas works with more local (e.g., CVBs, chambers of commerce), to promote Texas as a tourism destination for both domestic and international travelers.

Another state tourism organization in Texas is the Texas Travel Alliance. Similar to the USTA at a national level, Texas Travel Alliance is an advocate for the tourism industry within Texas. Texas Travel Alliance is a membership based non-profit organization who represents the tourism industry in Texas through legislative processes in Austin, Texas (Texas Travel Alliance, n.d.).

Many states in the USA have similar types of state tourism offices.

Local (CVBs)

An important local tourism organization is a CVB. CVBs can represent a variety of local geographic areas, such as a city, a county, a designated market area (group of counties around a city). CVBs are traditionally non-profit. The very first CVB was created in Detroit, Michigan in 1896 (Gartrell, 1994). The first CVB was essentially one full-time traveling salesperson recruiting conventions to occur in Detroit, Michigan. Today, there are CVBs throughout the United States and other countries. Generally, CVBs “are non-profit organizations that represent the common interests of a city or urban area in the solicitation and attraction of travelers and tourists” (Walker & Walker, 2018, p. 139). The acronym CVB is commonly used. However, there are variations of the words for the acronym and how they are used in the title of a CVB. In addition, CVB is not as frequently used anymore in the title of the organization. For example, Chicago used to be the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau (CCTB). Now it Choose Chicago. Houston used to be the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau (GHCVB). Now it is Visit Houston. Many CVBs have shortened their name to try to be flashier as part of the branding (which is further discussed in a later part of this alternative textbook). CVBs not only vary in terms of the name, but, but also geography they represent (e.g., city, county, metro area), funding sources (e.g., combination or sole dependence on…hotel occupancy tax, membership dues, government support, special events), primary markets (e.g., tourists, conventions), organizational structure/departments, number of employees and titles of positions, and oversight or reporting structure (e.g., board of directors, government, combination). Relatively recently, some CVBs privatized and contract with the respective city or geographic area. So, it is best to have a general understanding of these characteristics of CVBs. Visit Houston has a very unique structure.

Visit Houston with it being part of Houston First Corporation, which is a local government corporation.

References

Brand USA¹. (2020). Welcome to brand USA. https://www.thebrandusa.com/

Brand USA². (2020). Who we are. https://www.thebrandusa.com/about/whoweare

Gartrell, R. B. (1994). Destination marketing for convention and visitor bureaus (2nd ed.). Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.

International Trade Administration – National Travel and Tourism Office¹. (n.d.). Statistics and Research Programs. https://www.trade.gov/travel-and-tourism-research

International Trade Administration – National Travel and Tourism Office². (n.d.). Travel and Tourism. https://www.trade.gov/travel-tourism-industry

Legal Information Institute. (nd). Non-profit organizations. Non-profit organizations | Wex | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute (cornell.edu)

Ma, X., & Draper, J. (2017). Motivation and satisfaction of marathon volunteers: How important is volunteers’ level of running experience? Journal of Convention & Event Tourism, 18(1), 41-59. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15470148.2016.1230530

Morrison, A. M., Lehto, X. Y., & Day, J. G. (2018). The tourism system (8th ed.). Kendall Hunt.

Texas Travel Alliance. (n.d.). Our Mission. https://texastravelalliance.org/page/ourmission

Travel Texas. (2023). About us. https://www.traveltexas.com/about/

United Nations World Tourism Organization (n.d.). Our Management. https://www.unwto.org/management

U.S. Travel Association (2023). About Us. https://www.ustravel.org/about-us

Walker, J. R., & Walker, C. J. (2018). Tourism: Concepts and practices (2nd ed.). Kendall Hunt Publishing Company.