Help or Hindrance? Sustainable Approaches to Tourism Consultancy in Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract

This year celebrates the start of a second decade of partnerships with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) as transfers of know-how and technology continue to support economic, social, civil and political restructuring processes. Although the sustainability of consultancy inputs from advanced capitalist countries of the West to traditional recipients of aid has been increasingly questioned, the debate has neither addressed the specific problems associated with the post-socialist European context, nor linked advancements in the design of projects with their implementation, and analysed the role of consultants as a central element of this process. In its analysis of consultancy processes and practices in the field of rural tourism development in CEE, this paper focuses on the nature of designed learning experiences, the interpretation of knowledge shared and the sustainability of processes established. In order to explore a conceptual understanding of the interactions between development theory and the practical roles of consultants at project implementation stage, the authors use a typology of consultant practitioner and a set of project contexts to illustrate the ways in which different approaches of consultants add a further dimension to projects by shaping relationships, processes and outcomes.