Name: The economics of well-being: Crafting tourism policies that benefit destinations, residents and the bottom line
Start: 2027-02-12T09:00:00.000Z
End: 2027-02-12T09:45:00.000Z

About this webinar

Speaker update, 2 October 2026: Larry Dwyer is confirmed as the academic speaker. The industry speaker will be announced once confirmed.

Visitor arrivals, total expenditure and employment figures provide an incomplete account of tourism's value to a destination. This webinar examines economic frameworks that also consider resident wellbeing, environmental degradation, social inclusion and the distribution of income. It asks how public policy can recognise commercial contribution while accounting for costs that do not appear in conventional business measures. The session will connect subjective experience with observable conditions such as housing, public services, employment security and access to environmental resources.

Panellists will evaluate extended cost-benefit analysis, distributional assessment and alternative wellbeing frameworks. These approaches will be applied to tourism taxation, infrastructure funding, visitor management and investment incentives. The discussion will consider how assumptions about value, time and affected populations shape the result of an appraisal. It will also examine who receives tourism income, who pays for public capacity and how decision-makers can avoid treating gains to one group as automatic compensation for losses experienced by another.

Participants will learn to select indicators that reflect local policy objectives and to combine financial, social and environmental evidence. They will consider methods for identifying hidden costs, testing alternative options and communicating trade-offs to residents and businesses. The webinar will also address the practical limits of monetising cultural or ecological value. Delegates will leave with a methodology for designing tourism policies that support viable enterprise while protecting the community assets and public legitimacy on which profitability depends over the long term. This approach connects economic appraisal with democratic accountability and responsible public finance.

Speaker and chair

Prof. Larry Dwyer

Speaker

University of Technology Sydney

Australia

Larry Dwyer is a tourism economist and Adjunct Fellow at UTS Business School. His research examines tourism's economic contribution, destination competitiveness, event evaluation and human wellbeing. He has advised international tourism and economic organisations and received the United Nations Tourism Ulysses Prize in 2025.

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