Adopting and implementing a transactive approach to sustainable tourism planning: translating theory into practice

Abstract

This paper builds on the developing literature on stakeholder engagement, community participation and transactive planning for sustainable tourism. The attributes and conditions needed to foster effective partnerships in strategic tourism planning are discussed, and links to social learning explained. Practical applications of these concepts are demonstrated through case analyses of two-year-long strategic tourism planning processes undertaken for the Australian destination regions of Daylesford and Hepburn Springs (Victoria) and Byron Shire (New South Wales) during 2007–2008. Both used a comprehensive approach to stakeholder engagement, using a transactive planning approach that sought to establish a participatory and inclusive framework for stakeholders to engage in multi-loop learning and corresponding action to achieve sustainable tourism planning outcomes. A seven-stage stakeholder engagement process was used, bringing together stakeholder consultation workshops, setting up a destination planning website to accept broader community input, as well as creating Stakeholder Reference Groups and citizen's juries. The process continued with consultation reports, workshops, draft plans and the communication and implementation of the final plan. The outcomes of the two planning processes were, however, very different, demonstrating the complexity of working in dynamic socio-political contexts, with greater success for the concept of “enabler” organisations and problems for “provider” organisations.