Engaging Community in Sustainable Tourism Development in World Heritage Sites. The Case of the Dolomites

Local community support for and involvement in the effective use of WHS status depend on many place specific factors. Whether, and how, socio-economic and institutional contexts impact on the nature and levels of community engagement in the development envisioned with WHS status is analyzed in this study on the Dolomite Natural WHS in Italy. This area is characterized by a complex network of institutions and a sharp socio-economic divide between prosperous community-based mass destinations and small, remote marginal destinations. The forms of community participation that might lead to the futures envisioned with WHS status are analyzed by using data from an online questionnaire sent to mayors in the WHS and in neighboring municipalities, previously classified through quantitative analysis according to their tourism development model. Sustainable tourism is envisioned as one of the drivers of socio-economic development, but the door should be left open for other possible alternatives. The top-down management of the WHS leads to forms of induced participation at both inter-provincial and provincial levels. Although interactive decision making is expected at the local level, many obstacles must be overcome to develop community participatory capacity. A number of the study’s limitations are described, as are key issues for future research.