Barriers to the Implementation of Spatial Plans in Sustainable Tourism: A Qualitative Study from the Local Community Perspective

Barriers to the Implementation of Spatial Plans in Sustainable Tourism: A Qualitative Study from the Local Community Perspective

Introduction

Tourism and spatial planning are two different concepts, yet interrelated. Tourism often occurs in a specific location or area, which makes it have a spatial character. Although spatial planning is a tool for organizing tourism activities, the way it affects sustainable tourism remains underresearched. With adverse environmental impacts on tourism destinations resulting from tourism activities, it is imperative to find ways in which the destinations can be shielded to ensure sustainable development (Risteski, Kocevski, & Arnaudov, 2012). Beyond the physical environment, tourism activities affect cultural identity and the economy. Local communities are at the center of sustainable development. A gap exists between planning efforts of sustainable tourism and the implementation. Many of the spatial plans never become a reality due to multiple factors, including lack of effective implementation instruments and information to support planning (Brokaj, 2014). The authorities must ensure that they involve the residents in the planning efforts to develop sustainable tourism products and destinations. While sustainable tourism is inherently beneficial to the local residents, it remains unclear why some communities fail to attend spatial planning meetings or support efforts aimed at ensuring sustainable tourism and development. Unless the authorities understand their views and perspectives about spatial planning and sustainable tourism, efforts to develop sustainable tourist destinations will not achieve their desired objectives.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the present study is to determine the barriers that prevent local communities from participating in spatial planning efforts in sustainable tourism.

Research Objectives

The study is guided by the following research objectives.

1. What obstacles prevent local communities from participating in spatial planning activities aimed at fostering sustainable tourism?
2. How can spatial planners and tourism development authorities involve the local communities in developing sustainable tourism destinations?

Significance of the Study

Understanding the perception or perspectives of the local communities about spatial planning and sustainable tourism as well as the barriers that limit their involvement is the first step in developing sustainable tourism products and destinations. The outcome of the study will help practitioners develop ways to adopt spatial planning principles and approaches to improve and protect tourist destinations. The study will also help practitioners to identify ways of integrating spatial planning in sustainable tourism. In particular, it will uncover the deeply held believes and views about sustainable tourism, reveal the barriers to involvement in sustainability efforts, and ways in which the authorities can engage the local communities. Over and above, understanding the gap between the ideology of spatial planning and sustainable tourism and the actual implementation is an essential step in making sustainable tourism a daily practice in the tourism sector.

Literature Review

Sustainability can be defined as development that meets today’s needs without jeopardizing or comprising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. From the spatial perspective, essential aspects of spatial planning include traffic problems, location of the transport routes, the design standards, and accessibility, as well as the location of tourism attraction sites. According to Sorensson (2014), spatial planning plays a leading role in the development of tourism destination areas. Its role has been recognized in the way tourist destinations incorporate the principle in the design of tourism destination areas. The vital role of spatial tourism reflects in the national efforts to embrace sustainability. Spatial planning aims to balance the need for development with the need to protect the environment as well as. It helps in coordinating the impact of other policies on land and environment resources. With the growth of mass tourism, spatial development, and tourist destination cannot be left to chance. When carried out properly, it can help to achieve social, economic, and environmental benefits by safeguarding community development through prudent utilization of natural resources and minimization of the negative impacts. Although tourism is largely a private sector activity, the involvement and incorporation of spatial planning aim to achieve environmental and public benefit. Spatial planners make critical decisions about the quality of services, accessibility, and land use. Successful spatial planning requires the involvement of a wide range of stakeholders, including the planners and the communities living in the tourist destination areas.

Nazli (2016) examined the way undergraduate tourism students perceive the concept of sustainability. They executed the study using structured interviews with 57 participants from a foundation University in Izmir, Turkey. From the findings, 74% of the students believed that companies in Turkey do not prioritize sustainability, while 45.6% found sustainability important in the tourism industry. About 25% of the participants said that sustainability does not appear as a critical ingredient in the tourism industry. The authors concluded that the degree of perception of sustainability varied among the participants. The respondents did not see innovativeness and addition of value to work as important in sustainability. Over half of the participants viewed sustainability as protecting cultural, natural, and historical value as well as improving the ecological system. According to them, protection of the environment outweighed the profit-making goals of companies. The small sample size limited the quantity of data that could be collected and the generalizations that could be made from it.

Acha-Anyi (2014) examines the planning and development of sustainable tourism in local communities. The author indicates tourism can not achieve sustainable growth without involving local communities and offering benefits to them. However, the authors suggest that lapses in service delivery, infrastructure challenges, and poor management impede the consumption of tourism products. The major drawback in tourism development attributes to the failure to involve the local communities in the planning process. Without their involvement, the development of tourism products cannot be done to their full potential. One fundamental limitation of the study attributes to the fact that it did not consider the input of all stakeholders on the research topic.

Aleksandar and Marija (2017) examine the importance and role of spatial planning in the development of sustainable tourism. Although the researchers found spatial planning to be beneficial in sustainable tourism, they identified the drawbacks to the planning system. Absence of a cooperative planning strategy and vision, failure to integrate spatial planning system with national development planning, conflicts between different public authorities involved in spatial planning, poor coordination, and involvement of multiple authorities on a similar spatial scale impede the integration of spatial planning in sustainable tourism. The authors indicate that raising awareness about the importance of sustainable tourism, encouraging partnerships between private and public entities, and complying with the spatial planning legislation can ensure the development of sustainable tourist destinations.

Chill (2015) investigates the perception of local community residents towards sustainable tourism and development. Local communities lack knowledge about tourism and its role in creating jobs and alleviating poverty. Some residents do not know who should empower the communities to realize ways in which they can benefit from tourism activities. The author indicates that some community members do not attend meetings organized by spatial planners because of a lack of knowledge and understanding. The level of education among the community members limits the ability to recognize the value of sustainability. The author indicates that education level is a major impediment to full economic development and public participation of the community members. Considering that some residents do not understand the benefits of tourism and believe that it is for the wealthy in society, they are unlikely to participate in efforts aimed at ensuring sustainable tourism development. Although the study provides valuable insights about the way residents perceive tourism, it does not emphasize the role of spatial planning and relies on a small sample size that makes generalization difficult.

Dai, Wang, Xu, Wan, an Wu (2017) examine the perception of the local on historical sites in China. Developments in a historic district in China have led to a loss of a sense of community. Cultural areas in the district have been replaced by entertainment joints and restaurants and have continued to push the indigenous people out of their cultural land. Consequently, they lower community support of tourism development in the area. The authors investigated the existing conflict between residents and tourism development. They interviewed residents of a local cultural area and analyzed their responses through qualitative content analysis. They observed that some of the participants had a negative perception of tourism development. Those who had stayed in the area for long had strong negative views and blamed the authorities for failing to involve them in the development of tourism. Involvement in the planning and decision-making process is critical to ensuring sustainable tourism development.

Gaps in the Literature

Most of the previous studies focus on the impact of spatial planning on sustainable tourism. Consequently, there is limited research on the barriers to the implementation of spatial planning in a tourist destination. Although previous studies emphasize the role of local communities in the development of sustainable tourist destinations, few have examined their perspectives about spatial planning and sustainable tourism. The proposed study addresses this gap by exploring their views and opinions about what hinders them from participating in sustainable tourism planning.

Methodology

All research is guided by some underlying philosophical assumptions that define valid research and the methods for collecting and analyzing data. The study will use an interpretive paradigm to examine the barriers to the implementation of spatial planning in tourism. The choice of this research philosophy is informed by the fact that the study aims to explore and understand the perspectives of local communities on the barriers to the implementation of spatial planning in tourism destinations. Interpretivist researchers believe that knowledge can be gained or gathered using different methods. This paradigm argues that there is no correct or inaccurate approach to data collection, as every method can be assessed depending on how it enables researchers to collect and analyze data (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2012). This paradigm is built on the principles of observation and interpretation. Observation involves collecting information while interpretation entails making meaning out of the gathered data. Interpretivism model emphasizes the need to place the analysis in its respective context (Bryman & Bell, 2007). It aims to understand and make sense of data from subjective experiences. It does not define the variables of a study but focuses on the complexity of the way individuals make sense of the world. The paradigm aims to deepen the understanding of existing knowledge. The interpretive philosophy informs the choice of the qualitative research approach.

Research Approach

The study relies on a qualitative approach using focus groups and interviews of practitioners, tourist destination managers, and communities living in and around tourism destination. The major processes in the proposed study will involve exploring what the participants perceive to be the barriers to spatial planning in sustainable tourism. Given that the focus of the study will be to understand how people feel and think of spatial planning, the qualitative methodology would offer the best approach of capturing their experiences and opinions or views about the study topic (Saunders et al., 2012). Given that the truth is context-specific, the qualitative approach would enable the researcher to gather views from different perspectives and identify the relevant data and its implication. Qualitative research is a multi-method that adopt a realistic and interpretive approach while emphasizing the processes and meanings that emerge from the interaction. The qualitative approach informed the choice of the data collection methods

Data Collection

The study will rely on data from multiple sources. The participants will include urban planners, managers of tourist destinations, communities, and tourists. These individuals will be contacted through email to inform them about the study. The researcher will rely on purposive sampling to obtain the right respondents and enhance the validity of the data. The prospective participants will be required to confirm their willingness to participate in the study through mail upon which they will be informed about the interview. None of the participants will be coerced to participate in the study.

The participants will be contacted over the telephone and asked several questions about spatial planning and sustainable tourism. The researcher will capture their responses using an audio device. In some cases, however, written notes will be made from the interviewee responses. Each of the participants will be allocated 30 minutes. For the participants whom the researcher will manage to meet them physically, face to face interviews and focus groups will be relied upon to capture their views and perspectives about spatial planning and sustainable tourism.

Ethical considerations of informed consent, voluntary participation, and data integrity

The study will be guided by the ethical considerations. The researcher will ensure that the participants voluntary participate in the study. None of them will be coerced as they will be briefed about the study purpose and objectives and allowed to make independent decisions about whether to or not participate in the study. The respondents will be free to withdraw their participation any time they deem fit without any fear or repercussions. The researcher will also follow the ethical requirement of informed consent (Bryman & Bell, 2007). Rather than ambush the participants, efforts will be made to ensure that the respondents understand the research and its purpose. This will help clear any doubts that they have about the study. As part of ensuring informed consent, the participants will be required to sign a consent form that documents their intent and willingness to participate in the study. They will be assured that the study findings will not be used against them in any way but only for research purpose. Apart from informed consent and voluntary participation, the researcher will also observe the ethical principle of confidentiality. Considering that human subjects will be involved , efforts will be made to ensure that the data collected does not leak to unauthorized individuals. At the same time, the responses will be coded to avoid personally identifying information. The data will be kept on a password protected computer to safeguard it from being accessed and misused by unauthorized individuals. Data integrity is another ethical consideration for the study. The researcher will ensure accurate collection and interpretation of the data to avoid distortions or misrepresentation of the participant’s responses. The researcher will seek approval from the ethical committee by outlining ways in which the study methodology complies with the set standards and ethical considerations.

Reliability and Validity of the Study

Reliability and validity are important elements of any study. The reliability of the qualitative study will be assured by providing the respondents with a copy of the transcribed notes from the audio recordings to enable them perform member checking or a detailed review of their responses. The researcher will make all efforts to follow standards methods of collecting qualitative data and analysing the responses (Noble & Smith, 2015). For this case, focus groups and interviews will be used to gather information about their perspectives on spatial planning and sustainable tourism. This data collection technique will allow the researcher to obtain deep insights, views, and opinions about what the manages of tourist destinations as well as the tourist feel about the efficacy of spatial planning in ensuring sustainable tourism practices.

The validity of the study will be assured the by recruiting the right participants in the study. In most cases, researchers fail to gather data from the right respondents and thereby present erroneous data to the audience. For the proposed study, the data will be gathered from tourism destination managers, local communities around tourist sites, and spatial planners. By gathering information from a wide range of source, the researcher will eliminate cases of biases or erroneous data that normally happens when only a narrow sample size is relied upon. Although the study does not aim to establish relationships or make generalization, the inclusion of multiple data sources would enhance the validity of the study.

Data Analysis:

The qualitative data will be analysed through qualitative content analysis to identify key themes. Notably, qualitative content analysis aim to interpret and describe meaningfully the themes and topics that emerge in the participant’s responses. Unlike statistical analysis, the content analysis does not quantify or measure patterns. Rather, it involves interpreting the perspectives and opinions of different subjects. In the analysis process, the data will be prepared to define the content and its justification. All the data gathered from observations, focus groups, and interviews will be transcribed. The next step will involve defining the them or unit of analysis. The content will be classified into themes of spatial planning and sustainable tourism. The next step will involve developing the coding scheme and the categories. This will be derived from empirical studies and theories on sustainable tourism as well as from the participant responses and observations. The interpretations will be linked to existing theories. Before coding the entire test, the study will pre-test the coding scheme to help ensure consistency in the coding process. The last step will involve drawing inferences based on the themes or the coded data. The findings will help in answering the research question.