Public-Private Partnership in the Tourism Sector : Balancing Legitimacy, Building Effectiveness

This paper focuses on some new thinking and initiatives on public private partnership processes in tourism promotion and development, with reference to India. While tracing the nature of collaboration of the PPT type in general and that of tourism sector in particular, we analyze the nature and impact of such collaboration on tourism planning, marketing and management. The tourism sector is a vibrant and fast growing sector, post globalization. It has both pervading and penetrating effects and learning and earning. The processes of economic reforms, private participation in infrastructure development and foreign investments have made tourism industry a major source of invisible earnings. However, with the emergence of the new options like PPP, there are several issues that need to be addressed in terms of focusing, funding and fielding tourism products/services, even with regards to local and alternative tourism. We refer to few cases from outside India too to know how much has PPP model succeeded in balancing legitimacy and building effectiveness in the vital service activity viz., tourism