Democratizing tourism development

Tourism must find its feet again after a corona pandemic characterized by lockdowns. Despite the tough times, it’s a time for new thinking. The Time For DMO-cracy ’22 bootcamp focused on how tourism development can be inspired by participatory democratic methods to create an active and open public space that is respectful of the identity and values of local places.

Group Nao invited We Do Democracy to share knowledge, methods and practical experiences on how participatory democracy can be a key component in DMOs’ (Destination Management Organizations) work to develop sustainable, democratic tourism of the future.

We Do Democracy facilitated the first day of the bootcamp, where knowledge sessions and learning labs equipped participants to work strategically with participatory democracy and deliberative tools in the tourism industry. Participants developed ideas to engage locals and tourists to interact with each other in new, meaningful and more participatory ways.

• The bootcamp brought together 40 participants from DMOs (Destination Management Organizations) from all over the world at the Democracy Garage in Northwest.
• Through learning stations and workshops, participants were introduced to participatory democracy methods and case examples from local contexts.