Community participation framework for protected area-based tourism planning

Protected area-based tourism is being used both as a local development and conservation tool in many countries. It has been argued that the benefits local communities receive from protected area-based tourism and support for conservation can be enhanced when local people are actively involved in the tourism planning and protected area management activities. But most studies ignore or rarely articulate the actions required to promote effective community participation in tourism planning. Most participatory tourism development processes have also remained unassessed in terms of ascertaining their effectiveness. It is therefore appropriate for tourism planners to find means of effectively involving local communities in protected area-based tourism planning. Therefore, this paper proposes a framework for effective participation of local communities in tourism planning associated with protected areas. The framework incorporates perspectives and experiences from public participation in both broader tourism planning and general development planning. It has been developed to be used as a tool for effective community participation in tourism planning and any related assessments of the planning process.