Evaluating the complex impact of policy changes on tourism development: The case of Surakarta, Indonesia

ABSTRACT This paper discusses a recent political transition which led to changes in tourism development of the Indonesian city of Surakarta, and shifted the focus from preserving cultural uniqueness to boosting mainstream tourism infrastructure. The paper investigates impacts of such a fundamental change in tourism development policy and explores how its actions- and results-related impacts are evaluated by stakeholders. In this context, the paper adopts a relativistic stakeholder approach to impact evaluation. Findings reveal that the stark policy shift generated relatively balanced outcome assessments by interviewed stakeholders, although they criticised a lack of involvement in the decision-making process. Overall, this research contributes to impact assessment research by lending support to a relativistic and activity/process-based view. Stakeholder involvement into decision-making not only supports a continuous and critical evaluation due to the presence of a multitude of voices, but seemingly provides a counter-balance to sudden ruptures which characterize political dynamics.