La educación a lo largo de la vida

A commonality arising from the discourse and literature of sustainable tourism and community development is the essential involvement and participatory role of the community itself. Bramwell and Sharman (2000) state that there are many potential benefits for the community if it is involved in the tourism planning process. Tosun (2006) explains that participation by the community would in turn facilitate the implementation of sustainable practices because of the opportunities created for the community to gain more equitable benefits from tourism development. Lee (2013) found that community attachment and community involvement were critical factors influencing the success of sustainable tourism development

within communities. It is reasonable to argue that tourism studies tend to agree that allowing a community to participate and become involved in tourism planning and execution can lead to high levels of engagement and support for the sustainable development of tourism. Scholars have also paid attention to the different types of participation, from artificial or coercive participation leading to poor levels of support to genuine holistic participation resulting in an engaged community that is supportive toward tourism development (see Tosun, 2000; Tosun, 2006).

As identified by the UNWTO (2008) there are four arguments as to why community participation in tourism development and management remain essential. Firstly, a top-down or insular approach has previously failed to address issues arising from tourism and associated development at the community level. Secondly, involving the community will enhance social and human capital that will be required to tackle further problems. Thirdly, the community will have the ability to better control large tour operators and developers, in turn avoiding the negative consequences of mass tourism. Lastly, the community will be able to better identify and address developmental needs at a grass roots level, and moreover examine ways tourism may be able to address these needs. Reflecting these arguments, McIntosh and Ritchie (2011) proposed a model of holistic or normative participation in tourism planning (Figure 2.2). The model shows two perspectives, firstly the involvement of the local community in decision- making, and secondly the involvement of the local community in the benefits of tourism. Involving the local community in decision-making concerning tourism development and management can assist the community determine their own goals reflecting developmental needs in the community and also the role stakeholders should play in supporting the community to achieve these goals. Involvement by the community also has the potential to better educate the community members regarding the benefits of holistic participation, and secondly the benefits of educating the community in the positive and negative outcomes of tourism. This process also has the possibility to build upon the pool of community human capital available; specifically, through shared community knowledge the participatory environment allows to develop (Timothy, 1999).

Both Timothy (1999) in his investigation of community participation of tourism planning in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and a later study by Iorio and Wall (2012) examining tourism and community in Mamoiada, Sardinia, identified very similar findings. Timothy found in Yogyakarta the resident participation in tourism planning was in essence non-existent; moreover, official plans did not identify community or interest group involvement. His research showed residents felt they should not be involved in the planning process, and socio-political forces played an important role in how the residents felt. Little consideration by authorities was shown toward local traditions, and poor economic conditions plus the lack of expertise discouraged community participation. Iorio and Wall found power relations and the roles played by local institutions in connecting community members with the outside world were a significant factor encouraging community participation in Mamoiada. Their study also identifies the influence of competing community interests such as farming and agriculture and the role of the external forces toward overall community development. They conclude, ‘By definition, tourism requires contact with the outside world because tourists come from elsewhere. Can poor, remote communities, with little prior exposure to tourism, really be expected to be successful in a competitive marketplace in the absence of outside assistance? And if outside assistance is involved, then is it really community-based tourism?’ (p. 1448). Interestingly, Timothy at the conclusion of his earlier 1999 investigation concluded that his findings ‘would be similar to conditions in other developing countries whose cultural traditions, social mores, political structures and economic situations’ (p. 388) were similar to the ones identified in his particular case study of Yogyakarta.

Another approach toward tourism planning, management and community participation is to utilize generic business management theories, models and frameworks. Beeton (2006) confirms this by exploring further specific business theories that can and have been applied to tourism planning and management. While these theories provide broad knowledge of the business of tourism management, they can also be applied to underpin the importance of community participation in tourism planning. Strategic direction is a concept used to identify the desired future state of an organization, and is a fundamental principle of guiding the strategic planning process. Strategic direction consists of the successful creation and implementation of an organization’s vision, mission and values (Johnson et al., 2005). Contemporary strategic management discourse argues for the importance of ‘stakeholder buy in’ or majority support of the organization’s strategic direction, specifically considering that stakeholder support is essential to an organization achieving its strategic direction. Therefore, the importance of involving an organization’s stakeholders in the process of deciding strategic direction is essential (Enz, 2010). The concept of strategic direction and stakeholder support could easily be applied to tourism planning and communities. In deciding the vision, mission and objectives for tourism development, if those guiding the planning process were to involve the community in these decisions, there is a greater probability of unified support from the

outset. There is also the opportunity to avoid, as Doxey (1976) describes, the host community rejecting tourism development and the industry in general. This became apparent when the community had lost control over tourism development, and benefits from tourism ceased to flow into the community.

Moutinho (2000) examined the overall role of generic strategic management theories and their contribution toward tourism management. While he did not discuss Michael Porter’s Value Chain at length, I argue there is the opportunity to consider the importance of Value Chain analysis and the role it plays toward advancing community participation. A value chain is identified as activities or processes an organization does in order to create and deliver value to its customers (Enz, 2010). A Value Chain Analysis assists an organization examine these activities and processes, what organizational resources are required for each activity or process and how a combination of organizational resources, activities and processes could be harnessed to deliver superior value and in turn a competitive advantage (Johnson et al., 2005). Given the focus of strategic management in the 21st _{century is more aligned toward delivering value to not}

only customers, but a broad range of stakeholders, including the community and environment, a Value Chain Analysis could be harnessed to identify how value can be delivered to organizational stakeholders, rather than just a customer focus. For effective tourism planning, a stakeholder approach becomes essential. As Figure 2.3 shows below, involving community members in identifying how tourism can deliver value to the community and how resources should be utilized in the tourism development process allows for a high level of beneficial community participation, and in turn may generate further social capital.