Neda Torabi Farsani; Marzieh Hekmat; Hossein Sadeghi Shahdani; Aida Davoudian Dehkordi
Abstract
Nowadays, the impacts of tourism are one of the academic topics and concerns of experts in this field, and they are trying to increase its positive effects through network and cluster activity and find solutions to reduce the negative effects of tourism. Sustainable tourism requires the active performance ...
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Nowadays, the impacts of tourism are one of the academic topics and concerns of experts in this field, and they are trying to increase its positive effects through network and cluster activity and find solutions to reduce the negative effects of tourism. Sustainable tourism requires the active performance of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and museums can also play an axial role as educational institutions. Unfortunately, there is no close relationship between museums and NGOs in Iran, and the International Council of Museums (ICOM) is the only active NGO in this field. In contrast, the collaboration of NGOs and museums can be a step towards popularising the challenges facing sustainable tourism development. The objectives of the present research are: 1) to identify the factors affecting the participation of NGOs in promoting museums and sustainable tourism. 2) to explore the collaborative opportunities of NGOs and museums towards sustainable tourism development. In this regard, the qualitative method (thematic analysis) was used with the help of MAXQDA software. The statistical population of the research was the active members of NGO experts in the fields of tourism, culture, museum, environment, and geography. The data was collected using a semi-structured interview form. It is worth mentioning that the data reached saturation point in the 20th interview. The data coding results illustrated that moral and professional codes and policymaking influence NGOs’ participation in the development of museums and tourism. In addition, the five main themes of cooperative education, collaborative and interactive thinking, participatory advertising, holding joint events and exhibitions, and social participation were identified as collaborative opportunities for NGOs and museums towards sustainable tourism development. It should be pointed out that cooperation and partnership relations are a suitable alternative to competition in sustainable tourism, and this partnership facilitates the achievement of sustainable tourism goals, which have been at the forefront of central policy of global tourism development for more than two decades.IntroductionIn 1995, a charter with 18 principles was drawn up to implement sustainable tourism in Lanzarote Island, Spain. The ninth, thirteenth, and fifteenth principles emphasize the participation and role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in developing sustainable tourism. Today, NGOs play an essential role in the local communities' involvement, local empowerment, education, economic-social development, preservation of cultural and natural heritage, etc., as far as they can be called the public’s voice. NGOs play an essential role in education and culturalizing.Smithsonian; European Network for Accessible Tourism (ENAT); World Tourism Association for Culture and Heritage (WTACH); International et al. (TIES); The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO); International Council of Museums (ICOM) are examples of active international NGOs in tourism and museums.Currently, many NGOs are registered in Iran, and among them, ICOM of Iran is active in the field of cultural heritage and tourism and is the most well-known NGO in the field of museums. Addressing the discussion of NGOs in museums and sustainable tourism will increase the participation between NGOs and museums towards sustainable tourism. The role of NGOs as a speaker is to convey the museum’s voice. In addition, this research is an initial attempt to introduce the importance of NGOs and museums’ participation in sustainable tourism. Also, due to rising NGOs from the community and having voluntary human resources, they can create a closer relationship between the public and the museum through participating in sustainable activities.Literature ReviewSingh (1999: 92-94) argued that NGOs strive to develop sustainable tourism. Data analysis in the Goa, India case study illustrated that NGOs can also develop local socio-economic activities and play an essential role in community awareness. Liburd (2004: 105-109) stated that NGOs influence political processes and outcomes. Some authors (Butcher, 2006, pp. 307-310; Wearing et al., 2005: 424-439) noted that NGOs are trying to create a de-commoditized model of tourism that seeks sustainable tourism.Materials and MethodsThe present study includes two main objectives: 1) to identify the factors affecting the participation of NGOs in promoting museums and sustainable tourism. 2) to explore the collaborative opportunities of NGOs and museums towards sustainable tourism development. This research is exploratory, and a qualitative method (Thematic analysis) was applied. MAXQDA software was used as a tool for data analysis. The study’s statistical population consists of active NGO members, experts, and elites in geography, tourism, museums, environment, and culture. Data was gathered through the snowball sampling method. After each interview, the data was coded until the codes reached saturation point in the 21st interview, and no new codes were added to the previous codes. ResultsThe first goal of the research is to identify the factors influencing the participation of NGOs in promoting museums and sustainable tourism. The results of data analysis using a qualitative method (thematic analysis) demonstrated that policymaking (national and local) and moral and professional codes (external and internal) are two vital and effective components of the participation of NGOs in promoting museums and sustainable tourism. National policymaking includes eight sub-themes, which are: moral and financial support of the upstream institutions from NGOs, removal of difficult legal obstacles towards establishing NGOs, monitoring of organizations and the activities of NGOs, removal of legal obstacles when NGOs strive for implanting their ideas (another organization such as the police should not prevent them), creating a legal platform that recognizes the activities of the institutions, involving the supervision of NGOs in the government's decisions, creating a bottom-up approach to museum planning and development of tourism, not looking at NGOs politically. In addition to local policymaking, there are three sub-themes of participation of NGOs in local tourism development and planning projects: the cooperation of NGOs with gild merchant and local communities and the cooperation of NGOs with the diversity of social and age groups in order to communicate with the community visiting the museum. Also, the results of open and axial coding indicated that extra-institutional moral and professional codes are classified into four sub-themes, which include participation in international scientific and executive assemblies of museum science in order to announce sustainability conditions and activities; stakeholders' acceptance of the organization's participation; acquaintance of people with citizenship duties and issues of environmental protection and cultural heritage preservation; organized cooperation with other national and international organizations in order to share experiences towards promoting sustainable tourism and museums. It is worth noting that the togetherness and convergence of NGO members and the priority of collective interests; continuity in the systematic cooperation between the association and museums towards sustainable development of tourism; education and promotion of specialized knowledge in line with collaborative decision-making; developing the mission and vision of NGOs towards promoting sustainable tourism were identified as sub-themes of moral and professional codes.Furthermore, the five main themes of cooperative education, collaborative and interactive thinking, participatory advertising, holding joint events and exhibitions, and social participation were identified as collaborative opportunities for NGOs and museums towards sustainable tourism development. DiscussionNowadays, NGOs play a significant role in education, culturalizing, identity-building, and participation (Nouei & Saje, 2011) and can act as a collective voice for sustainable tourism. Sustainable tourism is a method of tourism that tries to minimize the adverse effects of travel and increase its positive effects by implementing the 18 principles. Meanwhile, as educational institutions, museums can achieve sustainable tourism goals with greater convergence and be the collective voice of sustainability in tourism destinations and museums. The results of data analysis with the help of software illustrated that moral and professional codes and policymaking are the factors influencing the participation of NGOs in the prosperity of museums and the promotion of tourism. Nouei and Saje (2011) also emphasize the cooperative role of the NGOs, but the innovation of the current research has been in identifying the collaborative opportunities of NGOs and museums towards sustainable tourism (cooperative education; collaborative and interactive thinking; participatory advertising; holding joint events and exhibitions and social participation). Training of tourism human resources and hosts; empowering local communities towards sustainable tourism; the use of museum space in sustainability education for the public; holding theoretical training workshops about sustainable tourism; providing consulting services to museums; acquaintance of people with citizenship duties and issues of environmental protection and cultural heritage preservation; holding a skill-based training workshop in about sustainable tourism and teaching intangible cultural traditions concerning historical assets through museum objects, including opportunities for cooperative education, have been identified. Other extractive open codes have yet to be considered in the literature review and are the new findings of the present research. Among the opportunities for cooperative and interactive thinking extracted from coding are the opportunities to collect financial aid for NGOs, participation in the establishment of museums, increase the power of access and interpretation of NGO's activities by the museum, creative participation towards sustainable tourism and the place to carry out the dialogues of NGOs. These current research results confirm other research (Kannike et al., 2021; Ouessar & Belhedi, 1999; Wilson, 2003). Creating employment and income for local people by attracting tourists and visitors to museums and tourist destinations; collecting intangible and tangible heritage towards sustainable tourism and museum management, and participating in strengthening pride and cultural identity are opportunities for social partnerships that experts have pointed out to promote sustainable tourism. It is worth mentioning that some researchers (Wilson, 2003) also emphasize creating employment and income for local people and strengthening pride and cultural identity in their research. Holding joint events and exhibitions regarding sustainability issues are not only the findings of the present study but also mentioned by Kannike et al., 2021. ConclusionLastly, NGOs are the representatives and voices of museums and sustainable tourism, and the production of content marketing by NGOs for museums and sustainable tourism increases the opportunity for cooperative advertising.
