Tourism’s common challenge: How do we create ‘community shared value’?

Are there needs, wants, and desires com­mon to all (or most) indi­vidu­als with­in your com­munity? How might travel & tour­ism serve them? K Michael Hay­wood explores the chal­lenge all des­tin­a­tions face if they wish to cre­ate ‘com­munity shared value’.

It’s a “Good Tour­ism” Insight. [You too can write a “GT” Insight.]

Des­tin­a­tions Inter­na­tion­al, the pro­fes­sion­al asso­ci­ation for des­tin­a­tion mar­keters and man­agers, has pro­posed an intriguing new concept: Com­munity Shared Value.

But what are these val­ues? Do they reflect a Roots & Wings philo­sophy? Do they evolve into a Dis­ney-like Be Our Guest mentality? 

Do they lead to, or stem from, well-reasoned WHYs that go deep to inform, guide, and cre­ate a sense of pur­pose for all com­munit­ies pur­su­ing tourism?

Do the ‘whys’ come from the heart and res­ult in lead­er­ship qual­it­ies that demon­strate the “Heart of Busi­ness”?

Is it a heart intent on unleash­ing human magic; achiev­ing well-being and mutu­al enrich­ment for all? Is it focused on out­comes derived from non-mar­ket activities?

Do the “Whys” dig­ni­fy the ‘oth­er’ and ensure justice for all; not just in ways that cor­res­pond with val­ues desired by vis­it­ors, but with val­ues that dove­tail with those of the cit­izenry, the hosts whose hos­pit­al­ity is inten­ded to res­ult in mem­or­able experiences?

Are those val­ues multi-dimen­sion­al — func­tion­al, emo­tion­al, social, and life-affirm­ing — and brought to fruition by being clearly artic­u­lated and well-integ­rated?

Are they val­ues that serve to devel­op new com­pet­en­cies (a defin­it­ive ‘brain gain’) and stir ima­gin­a­tions that give shape and sub­stance to pur­pose?

Is it a trans­par­ent pur­pose that gives mean­ing to our beha­vi­ors and lives, and informs our strategies, busi­ness mod­els, and goals? Because, if they don’t, com­munit­ies-as-des­tin­a­tions are bound to suf­fer the consequences.

Also see Paul Rogers’ “GT” Part­ner mes­sage
“Pri­or­it­ising well-being in travel & tourism”

Contingent realities

Val­ues matter. 

Too often, though, they are lim­ited in their expres­sion, let alone their implementation. 

Exam­ine the doc­u­ments, beha­vi­ors, and actions of those in charge of devel­op­ing tour­ism in your community. 

You’ll likely dis­cov­er ambigu­ous ver­sions of val­ues and insip­id explan­a­tions of the “whys”, pur­poses, and aspir­a­tions for the future.

Hon­oured more for its trans­ac­tion­al, eco­nom­ic and mon­et­ary out­comes and val­ues, tour­ism tends to be sought after and optim­ised for growth. 

Tour­is­m’s focus is often on the short-term with con­stant emphas­is on boost­ing rev­en­ues and achiev­ing efficiencies. 

In such situ­ations, the concept of com­munity shared value is likely to puzzle oper­at­ors, par­tic­u­larly as an innov­at­ive pro­cess, unless people are shown how tour­ism can provide mutu­al or shared benefit

With dimin­ished pri­or­ity giv­en to the medi­um- and long-term, how­ever, it’s inev­it­able: Innov­a­tion stumbles.

Lim­ited effort is put into co-cre­at­ing innov­a­tion pri­or­it­ies, empower­ing people to innov­ate, or determ­in­ing how to identi­fy and man­age innov­a­tion portfolios.

Of course, every oper­at­or seeks to cap­ture value for them­selves. But if this is determ­ined solely on the basis of prof­it­ab­il­ity and ever-high­er ROIs to boost share­hold­er value, cor­por­ate and com­munity longev­ity is likely to suffer.

Factor in lame attempts to mar­ket com­munity “dark value” without mak­ing it tan­gible; the inev­it­ab­il­ity of broken brand prom­ises; neg­at­ive extern­al­it­ies; dis­respect shown to cer­tain vis­it­ors and stake­hold­ers, and what do you get? 

The mer­its of “use­less” (yes, there are some) instead of what is “use­ful”.

Value cre­ation is said to be the found­a­tion of busi­ness but, giv­en today’s dis­rup­tions, it’s ques­tion­able wheth­er the so-called logic­al and highly com­pet­it­ive approaches to value cre­ation remain applicable. 

In a con­vo­luted world, a focus on pos­i­tion, resources, and oppor­tun­it­ies no longer suf­fices, as busi­nesses and des­tin­a­tions scramble to find legit­im­acy, regain their mor­al com­pass, and hope to con­nect with the com­munit­ies in which they operate.

Also see Kristin Dun­ne’s “GT” Insight
“Plan­ning tour­ism with pur­pose & love in New Zealand’s Bay of Plenty”

As a com­munity-based industry, tour­ism takes place with­in the pub­lic square; a real­ity that neces­sit­ates co-oper­a­tion and col­lab­or­a­tion that will lead to the cre­ation of com­munity or pub­lic value.

This pub­lic value must cre­ate bene­fits, not bur­dens for everyone. 

It should serve to rec­ti­fy social and envir­on­ment­al injustices that exist through­out com­munit­ies and all facets of the tour­ism industry.

If tour­ism clusters are to serve a com­mon pur­pose, they must become more com­mit­ted to cre­at­ing social and life-affirm­ing value on behalf of all stakeholders. 

As such, there is an urgency to regain the legit­im­acy and organ­isa­tion­al capa­city required for more inclus­ive and integ­rated approaches to value cre­ation, as pro­posed by The Busi­ness Roundtable and Future of Tour­ism.

Searching for ‘community shared value’ creation opportunities

Des­tin­a­tion mar­ket­ing (and man­age­ment) organ­isa­tions (DMOs) are not obli­vi­ous to some of these requirements. 

But, does Des­tin­a­tions Inter­na­tion­al and its mem­bers know how best to con­vince politi­cians and fund­ing agen­cies as to tourism’s com­mit­ment and con­tri­bu­tions to the cre­ation of com­munity shared value?

Has the premise of their argu­ments been fully explored? 

A lot depends on wheth­er the demand cre­ation man­dates assigned to DMOs, along with the cir­cum­scribed nature of the chief mar­ket­ing officer job, remains accept­able, or needs to be totally re-thought.

Sure, some DMOs play key roles in help­ing vis­it­or-serving enter­prises over­come dif­fi­culties asso­ci­ated with the cap­ture of eco­nom­ic value.

But what about cre­at­ing a hier­archy of value for communities? 

Surely this could be achieved through more effect­ive util­isa­tion of net­work effects and brand strength, lead­ing to more cooper­at­ive and shared value cre­ation.

Wit­ness the com­pound­ing of value when com­munit­ies devel­op strong neigh­bor­hood policies and strategies (e.g. Toronto); or, when busi­ness enter­prises com­mit to sourcing loc­ally and engage in cir­cu­lar eco­nom­ies.

The unique­ness of place along with avail­ab­il­ity of suf­fi­cient and well-designed phys­ic­al and social infra­struc­tures goes far in cre­at­ing shared com­munity value. 

So too is a will­ing­ness to enter into part­ner­ships that seek to co-ordin­ate, co-cre­ate, and bundle offer­ings that add to the power of pull (access, attrac­tion and achieve­ment) and advance the com­mon val­ues to be derived from tourism.

Also see K Michael Hay­wood’s “GT” Insight
“Smart clusters: How des­tin­a­tions can organ­ise for a bet­ter future”

Col­lect­ive or com­munity shared value is not simply an eco­nom­ic con­struct, but a value designed to ener­gise and cel­eb­rate the social and sen­ti­ment­al fab­rics of com­munit­ies and their nat­ur­al and nature-based resources.

It is com­fort­ing to know how many com­munit­ies are show­ing con­cern for our fra­gile endow­ment; well-enhanced through com­pas­sion and con­scien­tious­ness; cooper­at­ive and col­lab­or­at­ive beha­vi­ors; com­pet­ency and capabilities. 

But efforts to cre­ate value depend on how we choose to value nature, value cul­ture, value com­munity, and value our desire for engage­ment and con­nec­tion.

Over­all, value cre­ation can be a moment­ous com­munity-wide enter­prise if it exhil­ar­ates civic spir­it (evid­enced by the work of New York’s Design Trust).

And if it pro­motes an entre­pren­eur­i­al spir­it which can cul­min­ate in a flow of social and eco­nom­ic innov­at­ive­ness as exem­pli­fied in Fogo Island and the Town of Tot­nes.

Civic and entre­pren­eur­i­al ini­ti­at­ive rep­res­ent the main drivers of des­tin­a­tion eco­nom­ies; clearly evid­ent when (com­munity and organ­isa­tion­al) cul­ture and cre­ativ­ity lead to mem­or­able vis­it­or (and host) exper­i­ences and value-driv­en innov­a­tions.

Con­sider, for example, Rwanda’s com­mit­ment to engage in tour­ism rev­en­ue shar­ing.

Also see Edwin Magio’s “GT” Insight
“Africa must put com­munit­ies, con­ser­va­tion at the centre of recovery”

As interest in value cre­ation through high-ambi­tion tour­ism coali­tions and clusters grows, we are wit­ness­ing pro­gress towards stake­hold­er primacy via pro-social approaches that have a com­mon mis­sion or com­mon pur­pose.

Com­munity shared value will grow and become bet­ter integ­rated so long as it is delivered in accord­ance with eth­ic­al and mor­al val­ues.

In oth­er words, value cre­ation through val­ues; con­scious tour­ism; dynam­ic approaches to teach­ing about val­ues; and our desires for rooted­ness and com­munity innov­a­tion; a lived Roots & Wings philosophy.

As a whole, these broad­er inter­pret­a­tions and real­isa­tions of value are closely aligned with civic tour­ism and the devel­op­ment of civic and civil eco­nom­ies that can give a tre­mend­ous boost to civic pride.

If only they could now be included in the pre­vail­ing the­or­ies of private and pub­lic eco­nom­ic value, includ­ing this con­cep­tu­al frame­work for value cre­ation in tour­ism.

In prac­tice this is more likely to occur as sub­stant­ive shifts in power rela­tion­ships, and an evol­u­tion of cap­it­al­ism, take root. 

All of which are being revealed through renewed interest in social goals, cor­por­ate or com­munity states­man­ship, an uptick in CEO act­iv­ism (exem­pli­fied by the out­door industry), and com­mit­ments by com­pan­ies to be a force for good.

Also see Jim Butcher­’s “GT” Insight
“Tourism’s demo­crat­ic deficit”

Realising ‘community shared value’ creation

Giv­en the cross­winds, the abil­ity to cre­ate com­munity shared value will remain a strenu­ous endeavor unless and until we determ­ine who and what has value.

Indeed, there is no such thing as a value unless people are involved. 

Value, after all, is attached to people, so its determ­in­a­tion requires deep inquir­ies and a con­stant ask­ing of questions. 

The key is to look bey­ond the aver­age per­son, to all who live under dif­fer­ent cir­cum­stances, to the point of recog­nising indi­vidu­al­ity and the need to per­son­al­ise value.

As an inside-out phe­nomen­on, pro­gress and pos­sib­il­it­ies become clearly defined and anchored when win from with­in men­tal­it­ies develop. 

With par­ti­cip­a­tion in its devel­op­ment through­out our tour­ism clusters, our com­munit­ies are more likely to emerge and remain com­pel­ling; our hos­pit­al­ity inspir­ing; and, our approach to sus­tain­ab­il­ity comprehensive.

This will require col­lab­or­a­tion and new approaches to cre­at­ive think­ing that is focused on cre­at­ing value — fair, mean­ing­ful, and equit­ably-shared value — that hope­fully will lead to design act­iv­ism and co-design opportunities.

Whatever the decisions and actions taken in regard to cre­at­ing shared com­munity value, it is essen­tial that they pass the test of being desir­able, feas­ible, and viable. 

Also see Peter Richards’ “GT” Insight
“The most import­ant col­leagues in a com­munity-based tour­ism project”

This require­ment will neces­sit­ate provid­ing the right people with stra­tegic, oper­a­tion­al, and fin­an­cial dis­cre­tion; new frame­works for integ­rated value report­ing; and, bet­ter-adap­ted ver­sions of the Bal­anced Score­card that truly meas­ure the object­ives and key res­ults (OKRs) of com­munit­ies, not just corporations.

In sum, real­ising com­munity value is a mat­ter of begin­ning again as every­one com­mits to act­ing justly and boldly in order to cre­ate inspir­ing and aston­ish­ing people and places, per­form­ances and exper­i­ences that deliv­er immense value.

Such a man­date need not seem over­whelm­ing if emphas­is is put on rethink­ing and improv­ing a range of cluster ini­ti­at­ives, gov­ernance and policies, and work­ing more col­lab­or­at­ively to restore the hon­our, iden­tity, and integ­rity of our destinations.

As a com­munity-involving chal­lenge, the work ahead is immense. 

Com­munity shared value has to be mean­ing­ful, provide dir­ec­tion, and be evid­ent through­out relationships. 

It has to be demon­strated in mes­saging and tone and in guid­ing transformation. 

Com­munity shared value, so long as it is coher­ent, cred­ible, and con­sist­ent, couldn’t be more on the Up & Up.

Good luck!

Fea­tured image (top of post): A com­mon chal­lenge. Image by sas­int (CC0) via Pixabay.

About the author

K Michael Hay­wood is Pro­fess­or Emer­it­us, School of Hos­pit­al­ity, Food and Tour­ism at the Uni­ver­sity of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. Prof Hay­wood has recently writ­ten an e‑book “Aston­ish, Smarter Tour­ism by Design”. Find Michael on Linked­In.