What Does It Mean to Lead From Place?
Opening Reflection
There’s something quietly powerful about standing still in a place you love. Not to escape or retreat, but to listen. In a world that prizes movement, acceleration, and ambition, choosing to root yourself in one place can feel countercultural. And yet, it might be one of the most strategic choices a public sector tourism leader can make.
At The Tourism Space™, we often say that place is not a backdrop to our work. It is the source of it. And increasingly, we’re seeing tourism leaders begin to look to place not just for inspiration, but for direction.
The Shift to Place-Based Thinking
For many years, tourism success was measured through growth. More visitors. More spend. More beds filled. This growth-oriented mindset shaped destination strategies and sector-wide metrics. It worked for a time. Yet many of the leaders we work with are now asking deeper questions.
They’re wondering: growth of what, for whom, and at what cost?
In response, we’re seeing a shift towards place-based thinking. This is more than a geographic focus. It’s a recognition that each place has its own story, pace, and set of relationships. Place-based thinking invites leaders to start with what is already there — the landscapes, communities, traditions, and ecosystems — and to work from that grounding.
This approach doesn’t reject performance. It reframes it. It asks: how can tourism enhance the life of this place? How can policy and strategy align with the natural rhythms, needs, and potential of a destination?
The Place Paradigm™ in Practice
We use the phrase The Place Paradigm™ to describe this emerging framework. It offers a way to lead tourism not just for place, but from place. It invites a layered, systemic understanding of how tourism intersects with community well-being, environmental care, and cultural continuity.
In practical terms, this might look like:
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Designing strategies that emerge from local engagement, not just top-down targets
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Recognising tourism as one piece of a wider system — linked to climate action, heritage preservation, rural development
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Valuing stewardship alongside visitor numbers
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Seeing policy implementation as relational work, not just technical delivery
These shifts are not easy. They require public sector leaders to navigate uncertainty, hold multiple perspectives, and often reframe long-held definitions of success.
What This Looks Like in Leadership
Leading from place is not about always having the right answer. It is about asking better questions, in context.
We’ve seen this leadership in action. A regional tourism manager in Northern Ireland who pauses a new campaign to consult with community voices not yet heard. A local authority officer in the West of Ireland who reframes an infrastructure project through the lens of social licence. A programme lead in the Alps who explores how seasonality can be reimagined, not solved.
Each of these moments reflects leadership that is deeply responsive to place. Not reactive, but grounded. Not idealistic, but relational.
This kind of leadership is not loud. It rarely makes headlines. Yet it builds the conditions for long-term, regenerative change.
The Inner Work of Outer Change
One theme that recurs across our work is that system change often begins with personal reflection. Before we can shift frameworks and strategies, we often need to shift the questions we are asking ourselves.
Many public sector professionals carry a deep care for their place, alongside pressure to meet targets, coordinate stakeholders, and deliver within policy constraints. The tension between care and delivery can feel immense.
Leading from place does not mean ignoring this tension. It means acknowledging it, and choosing to navigate it with integrity. It might mean asking:
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What does this place need from tourism right now?
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What am I being invited to steward in my role?
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How do I hold both accountability and ambition, without disconnecting from my own values?
These questions do not have simple answers. And yet they open up space for new thinking, new conversations, and ultimately new directions.
Language as a Leadership Tool
One of the most immediate ways public sector leaders can embed place-based thinking is through language.
We’ve noticed that the words used in tourism strategy documents, stakeholder briefings, or funding applications can either close down or open up possibilities. Phrases like visitor economy, product development, or tourism growth carry particular assumptions. So do terms like regenerative, resilience, or collaboration.
Leaders who choose language intentionally can help shift the culture around tourism. They can model ways of speaking that reflect complexity, welcome participation, and honour local knowledge.
This doesn’t mean adding jargon. Quite the opposite. It means choosing words that connect, to real people, real places, real concerns.
Place as Compass
In times of uncertainty, place can serve as a compass. When strategies change, funding shifts, or crises arise, returning to place can help steady direction.
We’ve seen destination teams navigate difficult transitions by asking: What is this place teaching us? What rhythms are we ignoring? What stories need to be heard now?
This kind of reflection does not remove the need for evidence, data, or delivery plans. It deepens them. It adds layers of meaning and context that can make implementation more aligned and more effective.
For many of the public sector professionals we work with, this approach brings a sense of renewed energy. It reconnects their strategic work to something real and meaningful. It reminds them why they chose this sector in the first place.
Closing Reflection
Leading from place is not about nostalgia or sentiment. It is a strategic choice to centre your work in what is real, contextual, and evolving.
As public sector tourism continues to navigate complexity, your role as a place-based leader is more vital than ever. You are not simply delivering programmes. You are shaping the story of what tourism can mean for your place, now and in the future.
Bua Buan.
