An application of stakeholder theory to advance community participation in tourism planning: the case for engaging immigrants as fringe stakeholders

Abstract

Community participation has long been viewed as an important tenet of tourism planning, and there is general consensus among researchers that engaging all stakeholder groups contributes to tourism sustainability. However, there are gaps in the literature, and challenges in practice, that call for further research. Among these are the dynamics of heterogeneous community groups and that not all community subgroups have equal opportunity to participate in tourism planning. This paper attempts to advance community participation by drawing on progressive approaches to stakeholder theory in the management field and by exploring, for the first time, the engagement of immigrants in tourism planning as fringe stakeholders, representative of present and future community dynamics. Bringing first generation immigrants as an important but less studied segment within the broader host community into focus moves tourism planning toward a more inclusive approach to community engagement, reflecting increased diversity and change in host communities.

利益相关者理论在先进社区参与旅游规划中的应用：将移民和边缘利益相关者联系起来

社区参与一直被视为旅游规划的重要原则，并有研究人员普遍认为，让所有利益相关者群体参与进来有利于旅游业的可持续发展。然而, 文学和现实实践中的挑战是存在差距的, 这需要进一步研究。其中包括异构社区组织的动态变化, 不是所有子组都有平等的机会参与旅游规划中。本文试图利用在管理领域利益相关者理论的先进方法, 第一次探索代表现在和未来社会动态的移民在旅游规划中作为边缘利益相关者，以此来推动社区参与。把在更广泛的主机社区领域内重要的但是是次研究部分的第一代移民变为关注焦点，推动旅游社区参与计划向一个更具包容性的方法发展, 使其在寄宿家庭中反映出多样性和变化的增强。

Keywords:

• immigrants
• tourism planning
• community engagement
• fringe stakeholders
• stakeholder theory
• sustainability

关键词:

• 移民
• 旅游规划
• 社区参与
• 边缘利益相关者
• 利益相关者理论
• 可持续性

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dr Elizabeth C. Kurucz, Dr Heather Mair and Dr Chris Choi for their valuable insights and contributions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Anahita Khazaei

Anahita Khazaei is a PhD candidate and instructor in the School of Hospitality, Food and Tourism Management, University of Guelph, Canada. Her research interests include community engagement, tourism planning and sustainability. Anahita has years of experience in strategic planning acquired while she was a management consultant in her native country of Iran.

Statia Elliot

Dr Statia Elliot is an associate professor, and director of the School of Hospitality, Food and Tourism Management, University of Guelph. She has extensive experience working with Canadian destination marketing organizations, and specializes in research of place image and branding, tourism destination planning and performance. She teaches strategic marketing and tourism, and is chair of the Canadian Chapter of the Travel and Tourism Research Association.

Marion Joppe

Dr Marion Joppe is a professor in the School of Hospitality, Food and Tourism Management, University of Guelph. She obtained her doctorate from the University of Aix-Marseille III, France, in law and economics of tourism in 1983, and specializes in destination planning, development and marketing, and the experiences upon which destinations build. She has extensive private and public sector experience, having worked for financial institutions, tour operators, consulting groups and government, and has published in both North America and Europe.