Green Horizons Eco-Lodge: Managing Stakeholders, Conflict, and Sustainability in Eco-Tourism

Stakeholder Identification and Expectations
Green Horizons Eco-Lodge is a business that has a complicated system of internal and external stakeholders. Internal stakeholders consist of the management, staff, and the local employees who desire to have stable jobs, good pay and a safe working environment. The external stakeholders include the local communities, environmental groups, tourists, the government agencies and the international partners. Every group is unique in its demands; tourists want to have properly sustainable experiences, the local communities want the fair share of benefits and respect of their cultural values; environmental organizations want them to follow the conservation laws; the government agencies need them to be more regulatory and promote tourism (Freeman, 1984). To fulfill these varied expectations, a trade-off between economic, social and environmental goals under the umbrella of eco-tourism goals is necessary.

Competing Interests and Conflict Analysis
There have been conflicts that have arisen because of priorities between stakeholders. As a case in point, local society might feel that the development of eco-tourism interferes with their normal lifestyles, and foreign tourists might insist on increased entry into the natural environments. Environmental groups usually emphasize hard conservation policies that may limit the activities of visitors causing tension between economic interests and environmental sustainability. The Irridex model of Doxey argues that the attitude of stakeholders may become euphoric and turn into antagonism as the intensity of tourism escalates (Doxey, 1975). This tension has been experienced in the unequal sharing of benefits or when local voices are not involved in the process of making decisions. As such, ineffective stakeholder management is an issue that can be resolved by ensuring transparent communication, inclusive planning, and benefit sharing of eco-tourism so that conflict is reduced.

Reflection and Recommendation
The three areas of stakeholder engagement, conflict management, and sustainability are interrelated in the tourism operations. Sustainable eco-tourism relies on the establishment of partnership relations that consider the needs of all stakeholders and preserve the environment. Participatory forums and joint decision-making are some of the conflict resolution mechanisms that can build trust and long-term partnerships (Byrd, 2007). To enhance the long-term success of Green Horizons, it is advisable that the lodge should take a community-based co-management strategy. The approach will enable residents to be involved in the planning and monitoring eco-tourism projects to ensure sustainability goals are in tandem with those set to develop the community. This will not only help to ease tensions among the stakeholders but also make the operations of the lodge more rewarding and resilient.

 

References
Byrd, E.T. (2007) ‘Stakeholders in sustainable tourism development and their roles: applying stakeholder theory to sustainable tourism development’, Tourism Review, 62(2), pp. 6–13.
Doxey, G.V. (1975) ‘A causation theory of visitor–resident irritants: methodology and research inferences’, Travel and Tourism Research Association Conference Proceedings, 6(1), pp. 195–198.
Freeman, R.E. (1984) Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach. Boston: Pitman.