320 D.Lin,D.Simmons Tourism Management 63(2017)315-328 launched the TDP,in an effort to promote further the development (e.g.,newspapers,memoirs). of tourism in the region.In September,the municipal government Three types of interviews were employed in the second stage of initiated the specific strategy of placing "planners into the com- the research to generate primary data:open-ended interviews, munity"to secure the implementation of the JTDP.In December of semi-structured interviews (a"form of interviewing that has some the same year,the municipal government established the official degree of predetermined order but still ensures flexibility in the "Leading Group of the Development of JCW".This institution then way issues are addressed by the informant"(Dunn,2000,p.52)) commissioned the Shenzhen Center of Design(SCD)to openly re- and focus group interviews that explored consistent and shared cruit suitable architects from the society to form an expert advisory views(Patton,1990).Open-ended interviews were conducted with team that supported local homeowners in re-designing and reno- officers who held positions that made them good"key informants" vating their dwellings in accordance with the formulation and the (e.g..the project leader of several master plans and strategic plans implementation of the JTDP. in the case study area).These first contacts provided the re- According to many.the JTDP represents a new model of searchers with the names of other stakeholders.To establish trust participation in tourism planning.Against this background,the with the participants,frequent contacts were maintained through following discussion examines the stakeholders'involvement and phone calls and on-line chatting.Based on the views of these and the ways in which they networked.As an exploratory study.this other stakeholders,a snowball strategy (Atkinson Flint,2001) paper explores the relevance of these factors to the development of was also adopted to identify and access additional stakeholders the JTDP. (Rowley,1997). Twenty-two in-depth semi-structured interviews were con- ducted with key informants in the participation process in the 4.Methodology study area.The sample was constituted based on the general findings of the first stage and the accessibility of interviewees.The The goal of this study is to understand the ways in which public sample also purposefully included representation from each of the participation in tourism destination planning are formalized in the stakeholder groups(government,private sector,non-governmental unique social,economic and political context that is emerging in organizations and consultants)(Table 1).The face-to-face in- contemporary China.To achieve this goal,this study collected terviews usually took place at the interviewees'place of work detailed qualitative data through a case study research strategy.As (although some preferred to be interviewed at their homes).were suggested by Yin(2009)."A case study is an empirical inquiry that tape recorded,and lasted between 45 and 75 min.All of the in- investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life terviews were conducted in Chinese. context,especially when the boundaries between phenomenon Finally,two focus group interviews were conducted.One was and context are not clearly evident"(p.23).To generalize results in with planners from the JTDP planning team,and another was with terms of theory.not populations,a single case study can be business operators in the JCW.The questions asked aimed to deployed (Yin,2009).The case study discussed in this paper was ascertain the respondents'experiences with the JDTP,the salience conducted from March 2015 to June 2016 in three overlapping of their involvement,and their views of the extent of this stages.It employed continuous and interactive processes reflecting involvement. the grounded theory model of"data collection,followed by analysis Three data iterations are interwoven in the third stage of data and memo writing,leading to questions that lead to more data analysis,which is guided by research questions that were formu- collection,and so on"(Corbin Strauss,2008.p.197).These three lated on the basis of the conceptual framework(Table 2).The data overlapping stages enabled a prolonged engagement in the were first coded and organized to establish a preliminary analytical research setting.which enhanced the credibility of the findings framework.Those data that fell outside the framework were coded (Decrop.2004).To support data analysis and interpretation,the with descriptive free codes for further analysis.Following the initial first stage of research entailed mapping the material,institutional, data organization and coding process,codes were categorized and regulatory,and political contexts of the case study.This was ach- sub-categorized through systematic and constant comparison ieved through non-participant observation,a desk review of policy (Corbin Strauss,2008).In this process,each item was checked or documents,and open-ended interviews.Documentary analysis was compared with the rest of the data,and with the research ques- based on documents recording the development of the JCW.local tions.Informed by the analytical and theoretical ideas developed plans for Shenzhen over the past 30 years and strategic plans for during the research,categories were further refined and grouped the city for the next 20 years.The analysis was sufficiently broad to together by revisiting the research questions (Corbin Strauss, include economic and social development strategies as well as 2008)to model relations among themes.The members of the official (e.g.,governmental policies)and non-official documents Table 1 List of interviewee roles involved in the in-depth interviews. Type of stakeholder Representing Reference Number State Functional Units Shenzhen Municipal Government Officials,Planning Bureau SMGO no.1:SMGO no.2 Shenzhen Municipal Government Officials,Culture and Tourism Development Bureau SMGO no.3;SMGO no.4 Shenzhen Municipal Government Officials,Reform and Development Committee SMGO no.5:SMGO no.6 Economic Stakeholders Real estate developers ES no.1:ES no.2 B&B operators in JCW ES no.3:ES no.4:ES no.5:ES no.6:ES no.7 Experts Planners in Aube Conception SARL d'Architecture E no.1:E no.2:E no.3:E no.4 Independent architects E no.3:E no.4 Resort residents Indigenous residents living in JCW R no.1:R no.2 Migrants living in JCW R no.3:R no.4 Civil Society Members of the SCD CS no.1:CS no.2 Members of reTUMU TM no.1 Media(Newspaper journalists,Magazine editors etc) CS no.3 Source:authorslaunched the JTDP, in an effort to promote further the development of tourism in the region. In September, the municipal government initiated the specific strategy of placing “planners into the com￾munity” to secure the implementation of the JTDP. In December of the same year, the municipal government established the official “Leading Group of the Development of JCW”. This institution then commissioned the Shenzhen Center of Design (SCD) to openly re￾cruit suitable architects from the society to form an expert advisory team that supported local homeowners in re-designing and reno￾vating their dwellings in accordance with the formulation and the implementation of the JTDP. According to many, the JTDP represents a new model of participation in tourism planning. Against this background, the following discussion examines the stakeholders' involvement and the ways in which they networked. As an exploratory study, this paper explores the relevance of these factors to the development of the JTDP. 4. Methodology The goal of this study is to understand the ways in which public participation in tourism destination planning are formalized in the unique social, economic and political context that is emerging in contemporary China. To achieve this goal, this study collected detailed qualitative data through a case study research strategy. As suggested by Yin (2009), “A case study is an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context, especially when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident” (p.23). To generalize results in terms of theory, not populations, a single case study can be deployed (Yin, 2009). The case study discussed in this paper was conducted from March 2015 to June 2016 in three overlapping stages. It employed continuous and interactive processes reflecting the grounded theory model of “data collection, followed by analysis and memo writing, leading to questions that lead to more data collection, and so on” (Corbin & Strauss, 2008, p. 197). These three overlapping stages enabled a prolonged engagement in the research setting, which enhanced the credibility of the findings (Decrop, 2004). To support data analysis and interpretation, the first stage of research entailed mapping the material, institutional, regulatory, and political contexts of the case study. This was ach￾ieved through non-participant observation, a desk review of policy documents, and open-ended interviews. Documentary analysis was based on documents recording the development of the JCW, local plans for Shenzhen over the past 30 years and strategic plans for the city for the next 20 years. The analysis was sufficiently broad to include economic and social development strategies as well as official (e.g., governmental policies) and non-official documents (e.g., newspapers, memoirs). Three types of interviews were employed in the second stage of the research to generate primary data: open-ended interviews, semi-structured interviews (a “form of interviewing that has some degree of predetermined order but still ensures flexibility in the way issues are addressed by the informant” (Dunn, 2000, p. 52)), and focus group interviews that explored consistent and shared views (Patton, 1990). Open-ended interviews were conducted with officers who held positions that made them good “key informants” (e.g., the project leader of several master plans and strategic plans in the case study area). These first contacts provided the re￾searchers with the names of other stakeholders. To establish trust with the participants, frequent contacts were maintained through phone calls and on-line chatting. Based on the views of these and other stakeholders, a snowball strategy (Atkinson & Flint, 2001) was also adopted to identify and access additional stakeholders (Rowley, 1997). Twenty-two in-depth semi-structured interviews were con￾ducted with key informants in the participation process in the study area. The sample was constituted based on the general findings of the first stage and the accessibility of interviewees. The sample also purposefully included representation from each of the stakeholder groups (government, private sector, non-governmental organizations and consultants) (Table 1). The face-to-face in￾terviews usually took place at the interviewees' place of work (although some preferred to be interviewed at their homes), were tape recorded, and lasted between 45 and 75 min. All of the in￾terviews were conducted in Chinese. Finally, two focus group interviews were conducted. One was with planners from the JTDP planning team, and another was with business operators in the JCW. The questions asked aimed to ascertain the respondents' experiences with the JDTP, the salience of their involvement, and their views of the extent of this involvement. Three data iterations are interwoven in the third stage of data analysis, which is guided by research questions that were formu￾lated on the basis of the conceptual framework (Table 2). The data were first coded and organized to establish a preliminary analytical framework. Those data that fell outside the framework were coded with descriptive free codes for further analysis. Following the initial data organization and coding process, codes were categorized and sub-categorized through systematic and constant comparison (Corbin & Strauss, 2008). In this process, each item was checked or compared with the rest of the data, and with the research ques￾tions. Informed by the analytical and theoretical ideas developed during the research, categories were further refined and grouped together by revisiting the research questions (Corbin & Strauss, 2008) to model relations among themes. The members of the Table 1 List of interviewee roles involved in the in-depth interviews. Type of stakeholder Representing Reference Number State Functional Units Shenzhen Municipal Government Officials, Planning Bureau SMGO no. 1; SMGO no. 2 Shenzhen Municipal Government Officials, Culture and Tourism Development Bureau SMGO no. 3; SMGO no. 4 Shenzhen Municipal Government Officials, Reform and Development Committee SMGO no. 5; SMGO no. 6 Economic Stakeholders Real estate developers ES no. 1; ES no. 2 B&B operators in JCW ES no. 3; ES no.4; ES no. 5; ES no. 6; ES no. 7 Experts Planners in Aube Conception SARL d’Architecture E no. 1; E no. 2; E no. 3; E no. 4 Independent architects E no. 3; E no. 4 Resort residents Indigenous residents living in JCW R no. 1; R no. 2 Migrants living in JCW R no. 3; R no. 4 Civil Society Members of the SCD CS no. 1; CS no. 2 Members of reTUMU TM no.1 Media (Newspaper journalists, Magazine editors etc.) CS no. 3 Source: authors 320 D. Lin, D. Simmons / Tourism Management 63 (2017) 315e328