Tourism Governance and Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships in Protected Areas: A Scoping Review

Abstract

As the number of visitors to protected areas increases and their objectives become more complex, governing and managing protected area tourism is becoming increasingly challenging. Recent literature reflects a growing trend toward stakeholder involvement, including the private sector, NGOs, and local communities, in managing protected area tourism through co-governance arrangements and multi-stakeholder partnerships. However, research in this area is still relatively new, resulting in a lack of theoretical and conceptual foundations regarding this crucial aspect of park and recreation administration. To address this gap, a scoping literature review was conducted to assess current governance practices and their effectiveness in protected area tourism. The review of published studies focused on two primary categories: 1) constructing and operating multi-stakeholder tourism partnerships and 2) evaluating governance and multi-stakeholder tourism partnerships. The paper emphasizes the significance of partnerships in protected area tourism, outlining the conditions and criteria necessary for their success and sustainability, thereby addressing a gap in existing literature. It introduces two frameworks: one aimed at shedding light on the creation and management of partnerships in protected areas, and the other focused on evaluating partnerships. These proposed frameworks offer interpretations of the study's findings, illustrate how the research advances understanding in this field, and lay the groundwork for further theoretical and empirical exploration. They may assist park managers and planners in enhancing the tourism management and governance process by providing systematic guidance for establishing and assessing partnership models in protected areas.