Engaging Communities in Protected Area Tourism

1. Engaging Communities in Protected Area Tourism Steve McCool Department of Society and Conservation The University of Montana Steve.McCool@cfc.umt.edu

2. Starting Points 1. Goals of protected area and tourism planning • Conserving heritage, values, resources and opportunities • Tourism is a tool • Providing communities and their citizens with routes to economic opportunity • Incentives and sources of income/revenue • Enhancing quality of life • Recognizing that income is not the only measure of development

3. Starting Points 2. Protection of values in a dynamic, uncertain, complex and contentious context • In short, a messy situation • Requires new, different approaches to planning and public engagement

4. Starting Points 3. Vision of the community and role of tourism • What the community would “look” like in the future • The vision for tourism • Contribution of tourism to the community’s vision • Role of conservation in vision

5. Objectives • What makes for successful engagement • What are the implications for how we see public engagement

6. What makes for a successful plan? Implementation Technical Planning(LAC) Public Engagement(Consensus and Learning)

7. Protected Area Decisions Requiring Public Engagement • Purpose and goals of the protected area • What values are to be protected • What tourism experiences and opportunities are to be offered and promoted

8. Protected Area Decisions Requiring Public Engagement • Framing problems • Identifying and ranking issues

9. Impact Use Level Protected Area Decisions Requiring Public Engagement • Setting standards of acceptable change • Management of trade-offs • Conflicting goals • How much, what kind, where, tourism development is acceptable? ? How much impact is acceptable? ?

10. Dimensions of Success:A Framework • Plan is written • Plan is implemented (values are protected) • Socially acceptable goals and actions Traditional Approaches based on a “Culture of Technical Control”

11. Dimensions of Success:A Framework • Representation • All interests at the table • Relationships • Building trust • Learning • Process, content, each other • Ownership • Sense of carrying, responsibility • Enhanced functioning • Capacity to make and implement decisions Emergent approaches, based on a culture of learning and power-sharing

12. So, What’s the Message? • Requires a plan itself • Based on how the specific planning context is framed • With specific expected outcomes • Process is critical to a useful plan • Intertwined with technical aspects

13. Models of Public Engagement Expert Based Technical Planning Process

14. Models of Public Engagement Expert Lead Technical Planning Process Scoping Alternatives

15. Models of Public Engagement Collaborative Technical Planning Process Public Participation

16. Models of Public Engagement Transactive

17. Tourism Development • Community and individual capacity • Technical • Business management, market, guiding • Service • Financial • Relationship with protected area • Includes legal restrictions, personal relationships

18. What Information Public Engagement Provides Tourism Planners • Community strengths, weaknesses • Identification of resources, capacities and opportunities

19. What Information Public Engagement Provides Tourism Planners • Social/cultural effects • Acceptability of tourism development actions • Distribution/availability of skills, capital, business acumen Social Effects: Commodification Exploitation Transformation Competition Demonstration Homogenization Displacement

20. Thank you! Steve McCool Steve.McCool@cfc.umt.edu

21. Growth in International Travel