Tourism's groiving economic importance requires that governments of developing countries take a direct interest in the development and control of their tourist industry. In the face of resource scarcity and comparatively less-established tourist sectors, the government's role in tourism policy formulation is particularly significant. An evaluation of the role of government in the formulation of tourism policy will, firstly necessitate the exploration of key reasons for government interest The essence of this paper is to show that, if developing countries are to maximise tote benefits accruing from tourism, while minimising the costs, active involvement is a definite requirement.