A participatory methodological framework for paving alternative local tourist development paths—the case of Sterea Ellada Region

Abstract

The focus of the present paper is on the development of a participatory methodological framework, based on the future workshop participatory approach and participatory evaluation tools for planning the integrated development of a specific region, the Region of Sterea Ellada-Greece. Towards this end, particular emphasis is placed upon the sustainable use of natural and cultural resources for the spatial planning of alternative tourist development paths, which are effectively integrated into the local economic structure and its future perspectives. The proposed framework results in the building of scenario-specific policy guidelines which, by taking into consideration developments of the internal and external environment of the study region and the specific decision contexts these outline, support policy makers by providing a range of policy directions and policy measures that can serve effective decision-making within each specific decision context. Moreover, the participatory evaluation approach adopted in the proposed framework supports public and stakeholders' engagement in the decision-making processes, rendering thus these processes more pluralistic, credible, legitimized and transparent, which in turn are to the benefit of the planning process, the final policy decisions and their successful implementation at the local level.

Social Enterprise Evaluation: Implications for Tourism Development

“…In a critique of modernization imperatives of large-scale, transnational, top-down tourism planning and development policies, community based tourism enterprises (CBTEs) have been widely advocated as a means of ensuring and enhancing economic, social and environmental sustainability (Panagiotopoulou & Stratigea, 2014;Zapata, Hall, Lindo, & Vanderschaeghe, 2011). In this regard, participatory approaches characterised by principles of bottom-up planning, networking and multi-stakeholder engagement, and capacity building to facilitate decision making and grassroots mobilisation have been featured in policy planning and activities aimed at stimulating positive social, economic and environmental wellbeing in marginalised communities.…”

“…Given the claims of the efficacy of social enterprise tourism projects as a path toward empowerment for local communities, there is an even greater mandate for more focus on the benefits of the integration of evaluation processes in their design and operations in order to achieve overall developmental goals (Ofir, 2013). However with the critical turn in tourism studies leading to the currency and prominence of tourism as a developmental tool and agent for social change, there is a concomitant imperative to interrogate the key arguments and implications of PE and EE methods in CBTEs and PPT projects (McGehee, Kline, & Knollenberg, 2014;Panagiotopoulou & Stratigea, 2014;Papineau & Kiely, 1996).…”

“…But while there are theoretical models that may explain the social impacts of tourism such as Doxey's Irridix for example, they are not applicable as evaluative tools that may be used to assess the social impacts of CBTEs. According to Panagiotopoulou & Stratigea ( 2014), most of the research of the social impacts of CBTE are mainly based on case study analysis and traditional qualitative methods of interviews and focus groups which are the more popular methods used to assess the social impacts of development projects (Scheyvens & Russell, 2012). Generally, there is a lack of a focal theory or framework that has been developed that attests to specific variables that should be incorporated in the evaluation of the social impacts of CBTEs.…”

A strategic policy scenario analysis framework for the sustainable tourist development of peripheral small island areas – the case of Lefkada-Greece Island

“…This tourist development pattern has in turn resulted in an increasing pressure, exerted on the natural, cultural and social resources of certain regions; and a limited exploitation of resources of other regions, contributing, among others, to the increase of regional inequalities [29,30].…”

Public Involvement in Taking Legislative Action as to the Spatial Development of the Tourist Sector in Greece—The “OpenGov” Platform Experience

“…This pattern of tourist development has, in turn, resulted in an increasing pressure, exerted on the natural, cultural and social resources of certain regions; and a low exploitation of resources of other regions, contributing among others to the increase of regional inequalities [50].…”