When a tourism destination is promoted by private subjects. An investigation on fully private-owned Convention Bureaus

Convention Bureaus (CBs) represent one the most dominant form of destination management and a typical example of collaboration between public and private entities that may generate a significant economic and social impact in the local area where they operate. Most CBs are public-run government agencies. However, in Italy, after public policies of rationalization and cost reduction, many CBs could no more rely on public funds and changed their nature from public to private. Other CBs were borne as private organizations from their infancy. In this context of re-location of authority from public government to private networks, potential issues on the legitimacy and accountability of CBs arise. Legitimacy issues are captured by the following question: do private CBs “perform” the promised promotion and development of the destination or do they merely care for their members’ business? Coherently, do CBs provide explanations for their actions as a mechanism of accountability to different stakeholders’ demands? Individual in depth interviews and document analysis have been used to analyse two selected case studies. Findings indicate that a private CB does not automatically neglect the public function of promoting the destination and supporting its stakeholders. However, the opposite situation may also occur, i.e. a private led CB that focuses on commercial activities and is not deeply concerned about providing answers or justifications to the demand and expectations of different external stakeholders.