PRELIMINARY EVALUATION OF A TOURISM-BASED LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM *Marcela Fang, William Angliss Institute, marcelaF@angliss.edu.au Thu-Huong Nguyen, Victoria University, thu-huong@vu.edu.au Olga Junek, Victoria University, olga.junek@vu.edu.au ABSTRACT Leadership development programs (LDPs) are promoted in organisations in the pursuance of achieving competitive advantage through improved leadership capabilities. Today’s rapidly changing business environment calls for leadership skills and knowledge that can contribute towards better business performance (Samson, 2011). Developing leaders at tourism destinations is a recent phenomenon. Research evaluating LDPs designed and developed for the growth of an individual, business and tourism destination is in its infancy. This paper reports on the preliminary findings of a LDP offered to current and future tourism leaders across Victoria, Australia. The findings can inform the future conduct and development of LDP evaluation studies in tourism organisations. Keywords: leadership development; leadership programs; evaluation; outcomes INTRODUCTION Globalisation, disruptive technology, changing demographics, the drivers of innovation and sustainable practices collectively present new challenges that call for advanced leadership knowledge and skills (Samson, 2011). Leadership development programs (LDPs) are promoted across organisations to enhance performance. Within the tourism field, LDPs have started to be seen as a vehicle towards individual growth, the development of destination leader-networks, and tourism destinations more generally. Considering destination competitiveness, current strategies need to emphasise collective leadership to achieve effective outcomes. For example, in Victoria, Australia, an improved competitive position is being targeted through an emphasis on visitor economy. Victoria’s recently released Victorian Visitor Economy Strategy (2016) highlights that action is required to develop skills that will allow managers to be more innovative and capable to lead successfully within the competitive environment. In addition to skills development, the new strategy also calls for an improved collaborative approach between government and industry (Victorian Government, 2016). The Strategy and other reports (Kaiser, McGinnis, & Overfield, 2012; Kets De Vries, Vrignaud, Agrawal, & Florent-Treacy, 2010; Samson, 2011) suggest that LDPs need to foster the development of leadership skills and knowledge that meets today’s challenges. Looking at the case of Melbourne, Victoria, this paper reports on the preliminary findings of the Melbourne Tourism Industry Leadership Program’s (MTILP) outcomes. The program has been developing tourism leaders for the past eight years, however the outcomes of the program have not been clearly articulated to date. In this preliminary phase of a doctoral study, this paper considers the program participants’ feedback collected at the end of their program, over the period of the past two years, and reports on the various outcomes. The findings will inform the future conduct of LDP evaluation studies in the field of tourism. LITERATURE REVIEW Destination Leadership