The organizational development of the World Tourism Organization : a case story

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate and describe the organizational development of the World Tourism Organization (WTO), world's official intergovernmental agency dealing with tourism since the creation of the International Union of Official Travel Organizations (IUOTO) in 1947, in terms of values, goals, structure, activities, leadership and environmental frameworks. An overall hypothesis and four corollary hypotheses have been tested to determine if the changes in IUOTO and WTO organizational development reflected the changes in world tourism and environment since 1946. The objective of this study was, therefore, to understand the rationale of an emerging organizational process in relation to changes in world tourism activity. The data for the organizational investigation were obtained from the summary records and proceedings of 29 General Assemblies and related events concerning the International Union of Official Travel Organizations and the World Tourism Organization. The technique of content analysis was used to test the hypotheses, after the designation of appropriate theme units of analysis were evaluated by five (5) judges, all having an expertise on tourism and/or international affairs. Sixty-three theme units have been classified in a set of five categories. This set was designed to evaluate: (1) the changes in the approach to tourism values, attributes and problems from the end of the Second World War until the present; (2) the influence and patterns of membership, general participation and leadership within IUOTO and WTO; (3) the changes in the organizational ideology and goals structure of IUOTO and WTO; (4) the importance of external factors which influenced IUOTO and WTO; (5) the changes in the Organization's operations or outputs. Conclusions indicate that there is a significant degree of response in the organizational ideology, goal structure and operations patterns of IUOTO and WTO to world and tourism changing conditions. Finally, the findings of this dissertation make a contribution, the first of this type on IUOTO and WTO, to the understanding of the nature and scope of WTO's role and operations in the future which will be more oriented towards realistic cooperation likewise interested in the development of tourism with particular attention to the problems of developing countries.