In order to address the research aim and objectives, the case study is the most appropriate research strategy for this thesis.
Yin (2014) has indicated that a case study is the preferred strategy when the focus is on a contemporary issue within a real-life context. This particular research investigates regional development planning using ecotourism as a contemporary social phenomenon in a real-life context. The research attempts to analyse and evaluate the ecotourism initiatives, and clarify their potentials and constraints in order to develop a
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practical framework for collaborative ecotourism planning that could enhance the implementation of ecotourism in particular and, more generically, development plans.
According to the research objectives, the appropriate sources of case study evidence are: review of the documentation of regional development and Egyptian ecotourism planning initiatives combined with overt observations carried out in the focal government bodies before conducting interviews with ecotourism experts and stakeholders, which will be undertaken in two phases. These interviews are considered superior to other data-gathering methods (Kumar 2005), particularly for understanding and documenting the opinions and experiences of ecotourism planning experts and stakeholders, which will be essential for analysing and evaluating the planning process within specific initiatives before proposing a modified framework for Egypt. More details of the research data collection strategy will be explained and justified in Chapter Five. The following section provides a broad overview of the research strategy.
Figure (1-3) shows the stages that are to be applied to produce a practical framework for CEP. It will be a reference for ecotourism development planning in Egypt. The research plan consists of three main stages, each one designed to respond to a specific research objective and pave the way for the next stage. These stages are as follows:
Developing the conceptual and analytical framework This phase aims to
fulfil the first two research objectives. It is concerned with essential background knowledge to evolve the conceptual framework for CEP to avoid and overcome some of the deficits in the current Egyptian planning process. It is divided into three parts. The first part looks at critical reviews of ecotourism development requirements through: reviewing the key fundamentals of ecotourism, its importance for mitigating mass-tourism issues and expanding tourism marketing, the ecotourism development system and the interrelationships between its sub-systems, as well as seeking the requirements of successful ecotourism development. The second part discusses the potential of collaborative planning to address the ecotourism requirements outlined in
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the prior part. This part includes reviewing the key fundamentals and process of the CPA as well as defining the characteristics of a successful planning process; and, finally, investigating how to get the active participation of all the stakeholders throughout the process. In the last part, the conceptual framework of CEP will be developed, based on the previous two parts. This framework is considered one of the most important outputs at this stage that could be used to evaluate the current Egyptian process and propose a new one.
Evaluating ecotourism in practice
This stage aims to achieve the third research objective and provide the base for developing the fourth. It will contain three main sections. The first section provides a critical review of the Egyptian context for ecotourism development planning. The section will further explore the evolution of Egyptian tourism strategies and the challenges in tourism development. The potential of ecotourism to mitigate these challenges will be outlined, including a brief description of ecotourism development institutions. This section also explores the evolution of the planning system, regulations and levels. The second section concerns the case study design. Case studies are used here to test and investigate the theoretical studies in a particular and practical context; relevant case studies will be selected based on: a) identifying ecotourism initiatives in Egypt, b) classifying the planning methodologies of these initiatives, and c) selecting the case study. The third section discusses the template for data collection and analysis that will be used in each of the case studies. This consists of:
1- Critical review of the document plan;
2- Review of the other documents or plans covering the initiatives’ geographical locations to explore their relationship with ecotourism plans; 3- Multiple visits to the governmental bodies (EEAA, TDA and the
Governorates in which the cases are located). These visits will: i) develop a holistic understanding of the process of development planning, and the relationships among and between stakeholders during this process; ii) develop positive relationships between the researcher and key informants in
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the governmental bodies. These relationships are valuable to the logistics of setting up the fieldwork, such as nominating the interviewees and gaining access to potential documents; and iii) develop the questions of the interview using terms that make sense to the interviewees;
4- The first stage of the interview is designed to update knowledge on the development planning process in general and ecotourism in particular, as well as to identify the official story of the case studies. It will also be to define the main stakeholder groups that were involved in this process to map out an interviewee network of critical stakeholder groups in each case and examine who is involved and who is not, in order to interview members of both groups in the second interview stage;
5- Building the actual planning framework and the stakeholder involvement activities during this planning process in each case; and
6- The second stage of the interview will focus on evaluating the ecotourism planning process that was experienced in each case (outlined in the prior step) based on the idealised conceptual framework to identify the gaps in operationalising stakeholder engagement in the planning process. These interviews will also be concerned with the barriers that prevent an acceptable level of stakeholder participation during the planning process.
Adapting the theoretical framework to Egyptian circumstances
The final stage of this research methodology will focus on achieving the fourth objective of the research. This stage is structured around two main parts; the first focuses on synthesising the findings of the critical evaluation of the case studies, providing a number of recommendations to fill the gaps in the current planning process and mitigating the barriers to stakeholder engagement in order to enhance regional development planning in general and ecotourism in particular. This part will pave the way for developing a practical framework for CEP in the second part. This framework will be based on the combination of the empirical studies’ outputs (stage two) and theoretical studies (stage one).
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Figure (1-3) The research methodology Source: The author