Civic Tourism places a great deal of emphasis on the public process, by incorporating deliberative techniques that move participants beyond the predictable pro/con debate paradigm.

If people care about tourism at all, they tend to fall into one of two camps: either the pro-tourism sector that sees the industry as "economic development," or the anti-tourism voices that complain about how tourism "ruins towns."

Certainly there is a degree of legitimacy to both perspectives, but unless participants step outside these rhetorical boxes, it's unlikely communities will be able to have a different kind of conversation about tourism - one that views the industry as an enabler of place.