Managing tourism across boundaries through Communities

Over more than a decade, observations of community based tourism inspired in me a series of publications that are detailed in this meta-analysis. These twenty five publications deal with the relationship between supply and demand in tourism from a socially constructed heuristic and hermeneutic perspective. Heuristic, as the work conducted was based around observations, even participation, in problem solving action with a wide range of stakeholders. Hermeneutic, as the research observations and participation undertaken identified root causes and opportunities pertinent to community development . Therefore this represents a study of tourism management designed to resolve complex, somewhat chaotic and wicked problems centred around the agendas for suppliers of tourism that challenged the existing management practices and perceived solutions. Solutions have been constructed built around an interpretation of habitus and beliefs that are predicated on a four component model. The first is the accrual of case studies with which to benchmark achievement that might be seen as best practice and worthy of emulation. The second is cohesion with fervently held beliefs and habitus adopted in parallel business cases, quite possibly in a competitive and quality-driven service sector. The third is enduring benchmarks in good practices that can be re-visited and adapted to meet the changing complex needs of communities. The fourth component is sharing the knowledge obtained, and maximising uptake of scarce resources used, across the varying sectors and destinations. These shared new experiences in learning are becoming embedded in education but now also need embedding in accessible repositories that conceivably are available at very low cost to a much wider range of interested stakeholders. “Being, thinking and doing” are the words that come to mind when I reflect on my publishing journey in academia from 2005 to the present day (Kassel, Rimanoczy, and Mitchell, 2016). “Being”, as I am a researcher with a passion for all that concerns the community and my role informing and advising the various stakeholders charged or expected to deliver for the visitor. “Thinking” as I am actively identifying practices for future consideration that incorporate identified exemplars of sustainable development that we can all learn from. "Doing”, as a measure of our achievements as communities and how we can embed both tacit and explicit knowledge in learning in the community and in Higher Education. My work embeds that knowledge in those stakeholders deemed jointly responsible for managing the tourism experience. Tourism can be a force for good in any community and typically relies on starting with beliefs, values and identity. Stakeholders should accept learning about the changing face of responsibility for development as that community evolves. This approach is both emancipatory and inclusive in the twenty first century and it is reflective of critical endogenous decision-making in academia and praxis. My studies in New Zealand and in the United Kingdom clarify that tourism as a “force for good” is collective, cross-border, interdisciplinary and cooperative. I believe that shared stories of effort, innovation and success are vital to future thinking, as destinations pride themselves on distinctiveness and reflect an evolving public/private partnership nature. This focus mirrors beliefs in dyadic partnerships that acknowledges the twin responsibilities to conservation and protection in the development of communities. Through an amalgam of soft-systems methodologies and phenomenology I have discovered the need for multi- and interdisciplinary approaches. I am committed to a constructivist, stakeholder focus for responsibility and gladly acknowledge the role that health services research and community development research cross the border with tourism management to inform the continuing agenda for learning destinations.