Learning from the locals: the role of stakeholder engagement in building tourism and community resilience.

Abstract

This article explores the role of stakeholder engagement in building resilience to the impacts of bushfire. The discussion is informed by a study of Harrietville-a naturebased tourism destination in NE Victoria, Australia, that was affected by a major bushfire in 2013. Harrietville is a small town that acts as the gateway to premier ski fields and provides access to abundant nature-based attractions including iconic bushwalks, touring routes and rivers. The research aim was to investigate the impact of bushfire on the tourism economy and was based on a visitor survey and in-depth interviews with representatives from across stakeholder groups. A Destination Sustainability Framework (DSF) was applied to identify key vulnerability and resilience characteristics of the town as well as to identify opportunities for adaptation to future fires. Fragmented stakeholder communications and a lack of community engagement in planning for bushfire prevention, emergency management and recovery are identified as a key vulnerability. In response, government has successfully implemented initiatives to strengthen stakeholder relationships and engage the community in emergency planning processes. The article provides an important case study of resilience building by small tourism destinations as well as highlighting the importance of connecting with local knowledge in bushfire management.

Exploring the Covid-19 Pandemic As a Catalyst for Stimulating Future Research Agendas for Managing Crises and Disasters at International Sport Events

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“…Although extant research has evaluated the destination's vulnerability to natural disasters, there is a dearth of understanding of how local tourism stakeholders in these destinations collaborate, if at all, towards the goal of effective disaster management (Nguyen, Imamura, & Luchi, ). Better understanding of the determinants of effective collaboration between industry professionals and policy‐makers (PMs) at a destination level can assist the tourism industries and their host destinations in better managing future occurrences of disasters, thus building organizational and institutional resilience (Pyke, Law, Jiang, & De Lacy, ).…”

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“…In coping with social dilemmas, the level of trust is central to attain cooperation within multilevel systems [78,79]. As to tourism, a lack of communication during the planning process, horizontal and vertical fragmentation, and the absence of community engagement have led to vulnerable SESs [70,85]; "informal and formal meetings, workshops, and travel experiences fostered trust, social capital, and attitudinal organizational commitment" [85] (p. 633); collaboration between communities and network structures have promoted flexibility and innovation [86]; connecting local/indigenous knowledge to managerial practices has improved heritage conservation [71] and crisis management [70]; and strategies of power-sharing and adaptive co-management have also proven to be successful [74,87].…”