Governance in tourist destinations: challenges in modern Society

Abstract The topic of tourism governance in tourist destinations has been widely discussed in the literature and, although many benefits have been recognized, studies have shown that there are still structural gaps. Therefore, based on a conjunctural analysis of different factors identified in the literature, the objective of this paper is to discuss the main challenges of building governance capacity in tourist destinations. In order to understand how to preserve tourist destinations, understanding how to manage them, while also considering their weaknesses, is vital. To this end, this study used the ProKnow-C methodology, which involved a review of both domestic and international scientific journals that are rated between B1 and A1 by Capes. The study revealed that the main challenges to tourism governance can be divided into one of two categories: institutional and organizational. The former refers to issues related to the State, whereas the latter refers to the relationships among stakeholders who participate in tourism governance. Thus, we conclude that institutional and organizational challenges should be broken in favor of a conjunctural, not structural, reading of reality.