Community Participation and Environmental Stewardship in Small Tourism Destinations: A Governance Framework

Abstract

Purpose: This conceptual paper explains how community participation may support environmental stewardship in small tourism destinations. Approach: A purposive narrative synthesis connects participation theory, collective-action reasoning, and sustainable tourism guidance. No destination survey or environmental measurement is claimed. Framework: Participation is separated into access to information, influence over decisions, shared implementation, and the ability to challenge outcomes. The proposed mechanism links meaningful influence to legitimate rules, locally workable responsibilities, and feedback on environmental pressures. Conditions include representation, transparent allocation of benefits, monitoring capacity, and an effective response to breaches. Contribution: The framework distinguishes attendance at meetings from consequential participation and separates visitor growth from destination welfare. Practical implications include a decision register, explicit maintenance responsibilities, and a small set of locally meaningful indicators. The propositions require testing against ecological and social evidence across different destinations.