Tourism and Community Development Issues - Tourism and Development: Concepts and Issues - page 195

meaningful community and knowledge input that is perceived as more than
'tokenism' by policymakers and destination managers. Various participatory
research methods such as Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) have been
used to engage community residents directly in the context of community
development (see Koutra, 2010).
Community readiness
Two important early steps that are often omitted or assumed as a given
are the readiness of the community to participate in tourism and the pros
and cons of diversifying into tourism, especially given the range of adverse
impacts and the trade-offs that the community may need to make in order
to benefit from tourism. Getting the community prepared for tourism starts
with an assessment of its needs and readiness for tourism (see Jamieson,
1997). Evaluating the role of tourism in the community and its potential
contribution toward community development, and the existing level of sup-
port for tourism is an essential part of the planning process. Evaluating the
community's attitudes, its desires and aspirations with respect to tourism
development is a key action (see Choi & Sirakaya, 2005). The opportunity to
say 'no' to tourism may be denied as dominant (or external) tourism and
government interests driven by a desire for economic growth and profit may
initiate community involvement processes well after the decision to engage
in a particular tourism action, or after tourism has 'colonized' a destination,
as in the case of Hawaii. Personal communication with a key stakeholder at
the Native Hawaiian Authority in 2004 resulted in an inspiring conversation
that generated a visionary statement by the Hawaiian stakeholder of what
community tourism ought to be (see Appendix 6.1). A crucial aspect, he said,
was that the community had to be ready (physically, emotionally) to extend
hospitality - this is captured in his statement, as are other community
development parameters.
Unlike the case of beach fale tourism in Samoa described earlier, local
Hawaiians had little choice, they could not choose to say 'no' to the flood of
mass tourism, and residents had to 'react' to it, rather than being able to
choose what they wanted tourism to contribute in terms of community
development and well-being. As Mr Apo explains in Appendix 6.1, the com-
munity has to be ready before it can engage in tourism. The steps toward
that may be slow and lengthy. The question this raises is how much tourism
can contribute toward CD and poverty alleviation in communities where
basic and essential needs are still unmet - can its residents participate
meaningfully in tourism that can contribute to capacity building, sustainable
livelihoods and other desired aspects of CD ? Does it have the luxury to con-
sider alternative CD tools and approaches till the community is strong and
resilient enough, culturally empowered enough to retain control over its
natural and cultural goods ? Can it stand up to local elites whose (sometimes