Community Engagement: Key Towards Sustainable Ecotourism Development

To ensure sustainable ecotourism development, it is a must that host communities be co-makers of the plan and co-managers of development. This is even more evident in the development of protected areas for ecotourism. This... [ view full abstract ]

To ensure sustainable ecotourism development, it is a must that host communities be co-makers of the plan and co-managers of development. This is even more evident in the development of protected areas for ecotourism. This paper examines the role that positive community engagement plays in the success of managing and sustaining tourism development in a natural (nature-based) destination. To establish its argument, the paper examined through a comparative analysis, the management plans of the mountainous protected areas --- Mount Pulag National Park and Marinduque Wildlife Sanctuary, both declared protected areas under the National Integrated Protected Areas System Act, to find out how the management plan and its subsequent implementation involved the host community, thus fostering positive community engagement. Findings were derived from a qualitative approach utilizing focus group discussions, in-depth interviews of key informants, content analysis of official documents, and research validation. The study argues that to ensure sustainability in ecotourism development planning, it is a must that strong community engagement is employed. Marinduque Wildlife Sanctuary poses a good start and a review of the shortcomings of Mount Pulag National Park development is relevant to continue both destinations’ progress to sustainability.