Stakeholder Collaboration on Policymaking for Sustainable Water Management in Singapore’s Hotel Sector: A Network Analysis

• Main Authors: Xiao Hu, Brent Lovelock, Tianyu Ying, Sarah Mager
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-04-01
• Series: Sustainability
• Subjects: policy making; stakeholder collaboration; sustainable tourism and hospitality; sustainable water management; network analysis
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/8/2360

Stakeholder collaboration has become a critical issue in sustainable tourism policy due to the increasing complexity and interdisciplinary nature of the domain. Policymaking should reflect tourism values through a dynamic system in which stakeholders come to a consensus on sustainability issues via ongoing interactive engagement. Taking Singapore’s hotel sector as a case, this study explores how stakeholder relationships contribute to participatory policymaking on sustainable water management. Based on a survey of 33 relevant organisations, this research applies network analysis to investigate stakeholder collaboration within this policy domain. While the policymaking process is derived from a complex web of actors and their formal and informal interactions, the national water agency of Singapore and some private businesses were found to be centrally located in the policy network. The aforementioned government body is also perceived to hold the greatest legitimacy, power, and urgency over others in the policy domain. Central stakeholders were found to play an important “bridging„ role in terms of the interconnectedness of policy actors across boundaries of the public, private, and third sectors. These prominent political and industry players were also likely to exert control over the policymaking process and access to important resources based on their favourable network positions.