The Democratization of Tourism TIM O’DONOGHUE
Most communities that are travel destinations have seen their tourism economies grow organically and tourism industry collaboration and oversight evolve reactively. At the start, pioneering and influential tourism businesses often assume leadership roles. Collaboration generally starts occurring after a critical mass of tourism operators realize that it makes sense to pool resources for more efficient and effective destination marketing. If that is successful, it is often only in reaction to the stresses that overcrowding and congestion puts on environmental, community, cultural, and commercial resources that collaboration starts to focus on destination management. A host community’s values must direct tourism, not vice versa, and preferably from the start rather than as an emergency response. In order for tourism to be embraced and supported by the community, local stakeholders and residents must drive the planning process; establish a tourism vision, create tourism policy, develop tourism strategies, and set goals, actions, and performance measures. A destination stewardship council comprised of representatives of all segments
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Green Matters in Jackson Hole
of the community is necessary to ensure that the implementation of tourism management and development plans are consistent with the ethos and diversity of the community. While highly desirable, the democratization of local tourism development is not without its challenges. There are many. Here are two:
A tourism democratization challenge: Change management Community leaders must recognize that change can be hard on people. Successful tourism businesses, for example, may be resistant to change due to perceived costs, and may work to block policies that prioritize environmental stewardship and social responsibility. To this day, despite abundant research to the contrary, there exists an old paradigm perception that economic health is at odds with the environment, culture, and community of a place. A key responsibility of community leaders is to educate all stakeholders on the economic benefits of environmental and social sustainability, as well as the importance of financial sustainability.
