Untitled

input into such decisions and it has become part of
the conventional wisdom in planning as a whole,
as well as in much tourism development, at least
in the Western world, where local involvement is
widely advocated and may even be mandated. It is
argued that public input can help to ensure that the
adverse consequences of developments for residents
are minimised, that support for initiatives is
present, and that it can smooth the managerial
path. However, there is little agreement on how
best to proceed. Public hearings, open houses,
questionnaire surveys and court actions all constitute
means of ascertaining public opinions with a
potential to influence decisions. The appropriateness
of these and other methods of acquiring public
input will vary with the time and money available,
the culture and the degree to which there is a
willingness to share power. Arnstein �1969)
developed a classification of types of involvement
which she called a ladder of citizen
participation in decision making, extending from
manipulation through therapy, informing, consultation,
placation, partnership and delegated
power to citizen control. She argued that the first
three were not true participation, that the middle
two were forms of tokenism, and that only the
latter three were true participation in that they
involved some delegation of power to the public.
The importance and process of involving community
members and stakeholders in tourism
planning, development and operation have
gained popularity in recent tourism studies.
See also: community planning
References
Arnstein, S. �1969) À ladder of citizen participation',
Journal of the American Institute of Planners 35:
216±24.
Further reading
Elder, P.S. �ed.) �1975) Environmental Management and
Public Participation, Toronto: Canadian Environmental
Law Research Foundation.
Simmons, D.G. �1994) `Community participation
in tourism planning', Tourism Management 15�2):
98±108.
GEOFFREY WALL, CANADA
public recreation see park; recreation
public relations
public relations 475
Public relations is the management of communications
and relationships between an organisation
and its public to establish goodwill and mutual
understanding. Some experts simply call it `reputation
management'. The target groups of public
relations activities are several. First, there are
employees, who should receive information �by
newsletters, magazines, the home page on the
worldwide web or at annual meetings) about the
company's objectives, strategies and basic ethic
guidelines so that they can understand them and
identify with them. Service personnel in hotels
and restaurants, for instance, should know about
the importance of tourism for the company or the
whole country.
Second, stockholders, banks and investment
fund managers should find their investment
decisions confirmed by regular reports, newsletters
or at annual stockholders meetings �investor
relations). Third, suppliers, distributors and customers
should be regularly informed by direct mail,
press releases, websites and television infomercials
in order to keep them loyal. Fourth, local
residents, pressure groups �like consumers) and the
inhabitants of the countries in which the company
markets its products should receive honest information,
especially when something goes wrong
�environmental pollution, mass layoff of personnel
and so on). In this industry, the providers of
services of the national tourism board should
promote understanding of its importance to the
country's welfare, especially when mass tourism
occurs. Fifth, politicians, media managers and
journalists, who select and sometimes even distort
and distribute information to the public should be
targets for public relations. In this case, public
relations turns into `lobbying' for the objectives of a
company or a whole industry.