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Collaborative planning and tourism: a case study of the Robson Valley land & resource management planning process

University of British Columbia

At a general level, the intent of this thesis is to make a contribution to the increasing body of research on tourism planning as well as collaboration in natural resource management. At a more specific level this thesis looks at the level of tourism collaboration occurring within British Columbia's Land and Resource Management Planning Processes. Because of its great beauty and natural diversity, tourism and outdoor recreation have emerged as two of BC's fastest growing industries (Tourism BC 1996). However, tourism is only one of many competing forms of large scale development that are placing ever-increasing pressure on BC's lands and resources. In response to this pressure and resultant conflicts, the BC government has developed a strategy for shared decision making processes (SDM). A key element of the strategy is to encourage and support public participation in land use planning processes. This is to occur through collaboration and shared decision-making processes that bring together government and stakeholders to negotiate consensus agreements on land and resource management issues. Adherence to the SDM processes should therefore lead to more meaningful and effective participation by tourism (Williams et. al. 1998). This thesis analyzes the degree of collaboration within one of these SDM processes, specifically the Robson Valley Land and Resource Management Planning Process, from a tourism perspective. Based on theory and practical examples of community tourism collaboration, a case study interview questionnaire was designed and administered to nine public and one government participant from the Robson Valley LRMP process. The study of the Robson Valley case highlights linkages between the practical realities of a public land use planning process that is explicitly based upon the concepts of collaboration and the theoretical elements of collaborative planning for tourism. The results of the research indicate that while there are many opportunities for collaboration in an LRMP, institutional and situational obstacles can hinder it. These obstacles, include; imbalances of power at the table, lack of resources and government support for participation, and lack of recognition by powerful and controlling sectors of their interdependencies with other land use interests. They can be significant enough for tourism to be dis-satisfied with the outcomes of the process and to lose trust with the government over its control of the process.

Thesis/Dissertation

application/pdf

2009-05-28

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/8357

Planning

University of British Columbia

UBCV

DSpace