Stakeholders in sustainable tourism development and their roles: applying stakeholder theory to sustainable tourism development

6 Tourism Review, Vol 62, No 2/2007

1st submission: October 30, 2006

Accepted: March 15, 2007

Sustainability has become an important topic and concept in relation to tourism planning and develop￾ment. For sustainable tourism development to be successful stakeholders must be involved in the process.

The questions that should be considered though are: 1) who should be considered stakeholders in tourism

development, and 2) how should planners and developers involve stakeholders in the development of

tourism? In order to provide answers to these questions this paper investigated sustainable tourism devel￾opment and how stakeholder inclusion and involvement are incorporated in the basic concept of sustain￾able tourism development. This investigation was accomplished by reviewing and drawing conclusions from

the literature. The discussion includes thoughts from both management and public participation perspec￾tives. So who should be involved in the sustainable tourism development process? Based on the definitions

that are used for sustainability and sustainable tourism four distinct groups are identified; the present vis￾itors, future visitors, present host community, and future host community.

Key words: Stakeholder theory, sustainable tourism, community participation, tourism policy

Stakeholders in Sustainable Tourism Development

and their Roles: Applying Stakeholder Theory to

Sustainable Tourism Development

ERICK T. BYRD

Abstract

1 Introduction

Erick T. Byrd, PhD

Assistant Professor

Department of Recreation,

Tourism, and Hospitality Management

University of North Carolina at Greensboro

PO Box 26170

Greensboro, NC 27402-6170

United States of America

Phone: +1-336-334-3041

Fax: +1-336-334-3238

E-Mail: [email protected]

Refereed Section

Who are the stakeholders in

sustainable tourism development

and what role should they play:

applying stakeholder theory to

sustainable tourism development

The World Commission on the Environ￾ment and Development (WCED) published

Our Common Future, also known as the

Brunndtaland Report, in 1987. This report

formalized the concept of sustainability as

a global issue. Sustainability has become an

important topic and concept in relation to

tourism planning and development

(Inskeep 1991; Southgate & Sharpley 2002;

Yuksel, Bramwell & Yuksel 1999). This fo￾cus is in part due to tourism’s inherent na￾ture to have both positive and negative ef￾fects on the a community, the economy,

and the environment. Gunn (1994) stated

that there is no other form of development

“that has so many far-reaching tentacles as

does tourism” (p. 16). Choi & Sirakaya

(2006), Inskeep (1991), and McCool (1995)

furthered this idea indicating that, if

tourism development was planned improp￾erly it could destroy the very resources (e.g.

economic, environmental, and social) that

are the foundation of tourism in a commu￾nity. For tourism development to be suc￾cessful, it must be planned and managed in

a sustainable manner (Inskeep 1991; Mc￾Cool 1995; Southgate & Sharpley 2002;

Yuksel, Bramwell & Yuksel 1999).

One main key to the success and imple￾mentation of sustainable tourism develop￾ment in a community is the support of

stakeholders, (e.g. example citizens, entre￾preneurs, and community leaders) (Gunn

1994). A stakeholder is identified as “any

group or individual who can affect or is af￾fected by” tourism development in an area

(Feeeman 1984, p 46). The focus on more

stakeholder participation emphasizes its

ability to handles multiple perceived issues.

The first issue is that tourism development

decisions are made from the top down,

where “experts” make decisions. Often deci￾sions made in this manner are perceived by

the local community as not being reflective

of community interests and opinions. The

second issue is that the decision making sys￾tem is perceived to have competing interests

within itself, and, therefore, the decisions

made are again not reflective of the public’s

interests (Beierle & Konisky 2000). Further￾Tourism Review 2/07 07.09.2007 13:33 Uhr Seite 6