‘Measuring What Matters’: Resident Well-Being and the Tourism Policy Cycle

As the study of well-being has matured as a statistical and measurement agenda, it has gained relevance as a guide to public policy, generating more comprehensive metrics of human progress and embedding them in public policy initiatives and assessments. Internationally, a growing number of governments are attempting to ‘measure what matters’ through the use of well-being frameworks for policy decision-making at different stages of the policy cycle. The overarching vision is to enhance sustainable well-being, reflecting fulfilled lives of persons living now and in the future. Embedded within a conception of the ‘Well-being Economy’, this effort is argued to have substantial implications for tourism destination planning, management, policy assessment, and research. Following an overview of international progress in ‘measuring what matters’, important sources and indicators of well-being are identified, and their relevance to sustainable tourism development is emphasised. The paper thence highlights the potential advantages of using a well-being framework to guide the tourism policy cycle, addressing challenges that arise. The paper concludes with a proposed well-being action and research agenda for destination managers and other tourism stakeholders.