Rooms with a view: Informal settings for public dialogue

In communities where the lives of residents are significantly affected by tourism development, adequate involvement of residents in planning decisions is critical. Tourist communities have distinctive socio-demographic characteristics including, for example, such resident stakeholder groups as seasonal workers and second-home owners. Finding appropriate mechanisms for ongoing involvement that affords adequate dialogue among disparate stakeholder groups is a desirable objective for the public involvement process. In this paper, the experience in the resort of Whistler, British Columbia, of conducting small group ''living room meetings'' is described and evaluated. These meetings offered an alternative procedure for establishing dialogue in a nonintimidating setting. The multimethod procedure employed in the meetings offered diverse opportunities for individual expression and provided both qualitative and quantitative data for planners.