Political and relational co-creation for inclusive tourism development

Abstract

ABSTRACT Co-creation between public actors across organisational borders and hierarchies, as well as between public, private, civic and academic stakeholders has become norm and an ideological tool in tourism research and management. As co-creation entails issues of power and accountability, it is a political act and some entities, not least certain public actors, have the ability to affect the agency of others. This paper concerns the lack of policy and academic debates on who participates and how the diversity of actors are involved in tourism co-creation. The purpose is to critically explore the agency and relationships involved in multi-level co-creation for tourism development. We specifically point to agency connected to people’s different positionalities and preconditions for participating, and how the ways that people practise agency affect relational work. We use an interdisciplinary theoretical framework, integrating tourism literature on co-creation with critical tourism and diversity studies, and a case of multi-level co-creation for inclusive tourism development in a Swedish municipality. Through the study, the “who” in co-creation is widened, and the “how” expands into suggestions for just inclusion of minorities. Ensuring in-depth understanding of abstract concepts such as diversity, inclusion and multiculturalism is essential to follow policies for co-creation with action.