CREATE A GOOD FIT: A COMMUNITY-BASED TOURISM PLANNING 
                     MODEL 
                      
                     David P. Pinel 
                     Pinel & Associates Community Research & Planning 
                     (Canada) 
                      
                      
                     Abstract: Communities are rarely at the helm        and resource planning. Tourism planning can 
                     of the tourism planning and development that        then better inform and influence other socio-
                     affects them. This paper describes a Community-     cultural, resource use, and economic decision 
                     Based Tourism Planning (CBTP) Process Model         processes. With more explicit local guidance, 
                     and case study. This places otherwise common        tourism development can better avoid typical 
                     strategic planning and community development        “host-guest” conflicts and stereotypes, and can 
                     principles into a tourism planning approach.        stimulate more clear stewardship of tourism re-
                     This provides a comprehensive framework for         sources. This increases the ability of all stake-
                     steering tourism planning toward becoming a         holders to guide a better fitting, longer lasting, 
                     beneficial and lasting fit with other aspects of    and less depleting tourism industry in concert 
                     community and area well-being. This CBTP            with local needs, desires, abilities, and capacity. 
                     approach relies on initial and ongoing assess-       
                     ment of stakeholder experiences, concerns, hopes,   Keywords: planning, community assessment, 
                     fears, and dreams to guide tourism-related deci-    community development, integration, new mod-
                     sions.                                              els/old concepts 
                                                                          
                     A community assessment case study in the Kyu-        
                     quot Sound area, a remote coastal tourism set-      Introduction: The Concept 
                     ting on Vancouver Island, British Columbia,          
                     demonstrates the potential of using tourism         This paper highlights findings and insights 
                     planning as a stimulus for other aspects of com-                                               1
                     munity communication, organisation, and de-         from a community assessment case study .  
                     velopment. The depth of community-generated         and associated Community-Based Tourism 
                                                                                                                     2
                     insights depicts an otherwise untapped local ex-    Planning (CBTP) Process Model (Figure 1).  
                     pertise about their tourism situation. This case    The CBTP Model proposes that tourism 
                     study assessment reveals that the Aboriginal and    planning should build from an awareness of 
                     Non-Aboriginal residents, tourism operators,        community values and organisational needs 
                     and other stakeholders share many tourism-          to guide more locally-appropriate tourism 
                     related perspectives that were otherwise not be-    development that fits with other community 
                     ing discussed or acted upon. This is a powerful     needs, initiatives, and opportunities. This 
                     example of how local stakeholder wisdom can         brings otherwise established strategic plan-
                     correspond closely with general principles of       ning and community development princi-
                     ecotourism and sustainable tourism develop-         ples to tourism planning practices so that 
                     ment. This suggests significant latent benefits of  stakeholders (residents, operators, govern-
                     shifting toward tourism decisions that are more     ment) can together guide a more sustainable 
                     community-based instead of only market- or ex-      and consistent tourism industry for com-
                     pert-driven.                                        munities, not at the expense of communities 
                                                                         and local ecosystems. 
                     This CBTP approach can be particularly relevant      
                     for areas facing difficult transitions from dwin-   In planning and development theory and 
                     dling or collapsed resource-based economies. It     practice, local citizen and stakeholder input 
                     can provide a social and perceptual inventory       are increasingly stressed as necessary ele-
                     that complements more accepted biophysical,         ments for accepted and effective decisions 
                     supply, or demand inventories used in tourism       which balance economic, social, cultural, 
                    278                                          Pinel 
                    and environmental factors (Hutchison, 1998;        the aspirations of affected communities or 
                    Friedman, 1987; Verhelst, 1987). Similarly,        local residents in a “destination area”(Reid 
                    there is a growing and more genuine appre-         et al., 1993). 
                    ciation of the need for increased community         
                    involvement in tourism planning (van               This paper first describes the Community-
                    Harssel, 1994; Prentice, 1993: 218; Boo, 1990:     Based Tourism Planning Process Model 
                    48; Murphy, 1985) to help preserve and             (Figure 1), then provides a brief profile of 
                    maintain unique, special, or valued local          the case study context, process, and out-
                    features and tourism attractions. Such plan-       comes. Of significant note are the potential 
                    ning can better prepare a community to             Guiding Elements for Tourism Planning 
                    “adapt to the unexpected, create the desir-        (Figure 2) that were generated by—and 
                    able, and avoid the undesirable . . . [and]        for—the case study area stakeholders. These 
                    promotes the opportunity for improving the         Guiding Elements are summarised before 
                    total community rather than improving one          further discussing the relevance and practi-
                    part of the community at the expense of            cal considerations of applying the CBTP 
                    other parts” (van Harssel, 1994: 208). This        Process Model elsewhere.  
                    does not suggest that every tourism decision        
                    must be made on a community-wide con-               
                    sensus basis. Instead, direction can come          CBTP Process Model 
                    from a set of periodically refreshed guide-         
                    lines or principles generated by the many          Some assert that, “All travel is linked with 
                    stakeholders.                                      communities no matter how urban or re-
                                                                       mote the purpose may be. This inescapable 
                    In corporations and institutions, values and       fact can be a blessing or a curse depending 
                    visions are commonly clarified at the outset       upon how well a community accepts its 
                    of strategic planning processes and form the       tourism role and maintains a balance be-
                    basis of short- and long-term decisions and        tween traveller and resident development 
                    actions. A similar approach can be used as         and management” (Gunn, 1988: 241). Rather 
                    the basis for tourism planning. This ac-           than “accepting their role”, CBTP promotes 
                    knowledges that “Community demands for             that the community should define their 
                    active participation in the setting of the tour-   own—and the tourism industry’s—role. To 
                    ism agenda and its priorities for tourism          accomplish this, a community needs to cre-
                    development and management cannot be               ate opportunities for stepping back from 
                    ignored” (Inskeep, 1991: xi). Though more          tourism marketing and product develop-
                    time-consuming than a top-down approach            ment pressures. Then, stakeholders can 
                    to planning and development, when a                evaluate their tourism experiences and local 
                    community guides their own development,            values while setting a direction for their 
                    “the results are often longer lasting and          own tourism development in partnership 
                    more effective over the long-term” (Reid,          with other significant stakeholders. This 
                    Fuller, Haywood, and Bryden, 1993: 71,  In-        community-based approach is fundamen-
                    skeep, 1991: 27). Making and pursuing con-         tally linked with a “belief in human poten-
                    scientious and co-operative choices for            tial for favorable growth” (Biddle and 
                    community development requires patience            Biddle, 1965: 58) which relies on community 
                    and perseverance from all stakeholders.            members having a positive view and under-
                                                                       standing of their own potential (van Willi-
                    Independent operator initiatives, govern-          gen, 1986: 97; Freire, 1968).  
                    ment promotion, and market responses to             
                    tourist demands commonly drive tourism             CBTP relies on an initial and periodic com-
                    development. As a result, tourism planning,        munity assessment process (Phase 1, Figure 
                    development, and marketing typically focus         1) that harnesses the experience, expertise, 
                    on tourist trends and desires, thereby insuf-
                    ficiently identifying, upholding, or pursuing 
                              Pinel                 279
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                    280                                          Pinel 
                    desires, and support of local residents to-        This CBTP Process Model emphasises the 
                    gether with tourism operators and other            need for catalysts from events or individuals 
                    stakeholders (government, organisations,           to initiate an assessment process, and to 
                    and industry). Such assessment can generate        keep the process going through tasks that 
                    an inventory of perceptions about tourism-         stimulate co-operation, trust, tourism 
                    related changes (experiences, concerns,            awareness, and links with the broader 
                    hopes, fears, and dreams). This “social or         community development context. The actual 
                    perceptual inventory” can complement               “little steps” will vary by community and 
                    other tourism resource inventories (infra-         depend on previous experiences from work-
                    structure, services, attractions, biophysical      ing or planning together. The success or 
                    features, and cultural features) for making        failure of reducing negative tourism impacts 
                    more informed and accountable decisions            on communities and ecosystems clearly de-
                    while building organisation and infrastruc-        pends on how relationships are valued—
                    ture capacity.                                     relationships between people, and between 
                                                                       people and their ecosystems. 
                    Careful thought and discussion about “what          
                    matters to us”, “what we can offer”, and            
                    “how we want tourism to affect our                 Case Study Background 
                    home/community/area” can help to chart a            
                    clear course with guiding principles for local     The Kyuquot Sound area on the Northwest 
                    tourism planning and development. This             coast of Vancouver Island is one of the is-
                    process is invaluable when rural, remote,          land’s last remote coastal tourism destina-
                    and First Nations communities are in-              tions, and has one of the most isolated 
                    volved—where there are often close com-            communities of its size. By most accounts, 
                    munities, shared lands, common resources,          tourism activity is slowly increasing here, 
                    and sensitive cultural heritage. Similarly, in     but has not yet seriously influenced local 
                    more populated destinations, insightful            planning and development in the commu-
                    guidance and collaboration can emerge from         nity and surrounding wilderness and pro-
                    an assessment process within the many lay-         tected areas. During Kyuquot’s two month 
                    ers or sectors of the community, i.e., “the        peak tourism season in 1997 (July and Au-
                    many communities” affected.                        gust), the four sportfishing lodges, three 
                                                                       B&Bs, and one sea kayaking and marine 
                    Community-based tourism planning is                tour company were operating at about 60% 
                    about: 1) introducing more “strategic” and         of their combined capacity of about 90 cli-
                    “future” thinking or visioning to tourism          ents/day. There is currently no monitoring 
                    development; 2) relying on residents and           of recreational tourist numbers, however, a 
                    community leaders as their own “experts”           rough estimate is that commercial tourism 
                    about community needs and desirable tour-          accounts for approximately one sixth of visi-
                    ism influences; and 3) providing opportuni-        tors to the area. Though not promoted as 
                    ties to clarify community strengths, chal-         such, the many provincial protected areas 
                    lenges, obstacles, and opportunities for so-                                      3
                    cial, economic, and ecological well-being.         (Parks and Ecological Reserves)  adjacent to 
                    CBTP encourages and facilitates reflection         Kyuquot Sound are undoubtedly tourism 
                    about how a “destination” is also a “home”         draws. Tourism is creeping northward on 
                    (for residents, flora, and fauna). Tourists are    Vancouver Island and the people of Kyu-
                    more likely to appreciate and return if they       quot are only beginning to more carefully 
                    feel a “good fit” between aspects of “desti-       consider its implications and opportunities. 
                    nation” and “home” rather than experienc-           
                    ing tourism as a source of tension or nega-        In the peak of the summer, there are an es-
                    tive impacts.                                      timated 300 seasonal and full-time residents. 
                                                                       About two thirds of this population are 
                                                                       from the Ka:’ yu: ‘k’ t ‘h’ (Kyuquot) and