Introduction

The aim of this chapter is to present the important concepts and practices that constitute planning for rural tourism development. One of the themes emerging from the analysis of the case studies was the consistent implementation of ad hoc or 'knee jerk' tourism development that often occurs as a response to some critical event faced by a community, and the abdication of formal or even informal planning activities that could otherwise place tourism on a more sound footing early in the process of development. When communities, move ahead with tourism development without taking the time to develop a community tourism plan prior to project initiation, the value of planning becomes clear as negativities mount up in the system and become evident over time. This chapter then is devoted to a discussion of the need for planning and the implementation of those processes either prior to, or in tandem with, tourism development.

Key Theoretical Concepts: Community Tourism Planning Process; Community Engagement

Tourism is often seen as a benign industry without pollution or the potential to produce negative environmental side effects. However, many communities that have gone down the tourism development path have, in addition to experiencing some payoffs, experienced negative externalities and, consequently, have spent great amounts of energy and time trying to mitigate those consequences after the fact. While wide citizen involvement can often mean more uncertainty and adds additional time to the process, it is more likely to produce a product with which all can be reasonably satisfied. Consequently, this will also reduce the time and antagonism that ill-considered projects engender after the development occurs. All too often, tourism growth has been unplanned and without proper preparatory work, including social and environmental impact assessments.