Resumo: There is an international trend on policy design towards the orientation of public policies for enhancing tourist experiences with the participation of tourists and other stakeholders. This article explores the theoretical and practical implications that this transition on policy design processes may have over tourist destination planning, government capacity building and public participation. The relevance of studying this transition resides on the need for a better understanding of public policy designs and the policy process aimed at boosting tourist destination competitiveness. The article is an alert call for those involved on policy design to avoid policies aimed at enhancing the tourist experience without the proper designs to achieve that goal. The study combines a survey of theoretical studies and content analysis of policy designs. The main findings of the study suggest the transition towards policies targeted to enhance tourist experience requires coherent designs, but also the consideration of geopolitical aspects of tourist destination planning, power relations, capacity building for policy designers, and the relevance of a proper approach for conflict resolution and negotiation.
