COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN TOURISM PLANNING

Tourism planners are being asked to use greater community participation in tourism planning. There are two reasons for this. First, the impacts of toursim are felt most keenly at the local destination area and, second, community residents are being recognized as an essential ingredient in the 'hospitality atmosphere' of a destination. However, while many planners rush towards involving various publics in their work they do so without a full consideration of the progress of public participation techniques employed in other aspects of planning. Moreover, while many authors advocate greater public involvement few have tested or evaluated methods appropriate to secure local residents' interest and support for tourism planning. This paper reports on a research programme for Huron County, Ontario (Canada), that sought to apply and evaluate a three-stage participation programme for county residents.