The Living Lab as a Tool to Promote Residents’ Participation in Destination Governance

Hannes Thees, Harald Pechlaner, Natalie Olbrich and Arne Schuhbert
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Hannes Thees: Chair of Tourism, Center for Entrepreneurship, Catholic University of Eichstaett-Ingolstadt, 85072 Eichstätt, Germany
Harald Pechlaner: Chair of Tourism, Center for Entrepreneurship, Catholic University of Eichstaett-Ingolstadt, 85072 Eichstätt, Germany
Natalie Olbrich: Chair of Tourism, Center for Entrepreneurship, Catholic University of Eichstaett-Ingolstadt, 85072 Eichstätt, Germany
Arne Schuhbert: Chair of Tourism, Center for Entrepreneurship, Catholic University of Eichstaett-Ingolstadt, 85072 Eichstätt, Germany

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 3, 1-27

Abstract: Growing numbers of tourist arrivals, in combination with community-centered tourism products, have fueled the recent debate on overtourism and a redefining of local steering processes. This has also called for the participation of residents in governance processes. One tool to utilize residents’ participation and cross-stakeholder involvement is the Living Lab (LL), which also functions as a medium for self-organization. This article tackles the research gap that exists in the combination of the LL mechanisms and destination governance (DG). Therefore, the research questions address the characteristics and mechanisms of LLs and the potential for residents’ participation. These efforts are operationalized through a systematic literature review (SLR) on LLs, which involves 40 articles. The transfer of the LL characteristics towards DG reveals that certain drivers and barriers exist when implementing the LL in the governance process, such as the combination of destination and city planning or the redefining of hierarchical structures. The SLR recommendations for future research are based on the interface of LL and DG.

Keywords: Living Lab; destination governance; stakeholders; residents’ participation; overtourism; systematic literature review (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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