Engaging residents as stakeholders of the visitor attraction

While local residents are widely recognised to play a pivotal role in the development and management of destinations, their role in the context of visitor attractions has largely been overlooked. This paper seeks to explore the purposes and processes of local-resident engagement by attractions. A web-based survey of paid-entry attractions in Scotland was used to investigate the perceived salience of local residents in managers’ decision making. In-depth interviews with managers of three Scottish attractions then sought to specify the forms in which such engagement is undertaken. Despite evidence that attraction managers increasingly recognise the salience of local residents in their decision making, evidence from the interviews suggests that they tend not to favour deep engagement with local residents. Instead, local resident engagement by attraction managers tends to be “informative” in style. Where there is evidence of more substantial participation, it tends to be partial, reactive and ad hoc.

► Examines the purposes and processes of engagement with local residents.
► Local residents are considered to be legitimate stakeholders of attractions.
► Attraction managers do not favour deep engagement with local residents.
► Engagement tends to be informational rather than consultative or decisional.
► Even when participation is more substantial, it tends to be reactive and ad hoc.