This paper analyzes different modalities of local community involvement and participation in shaping local tourism development. The main goal of this paper is to identify and determine the usefulness of a modern model of communication ("Living Lab" concept) and how such a model could contribute to better shaping of tourism development. The theoretical part of the paper presents findings from secondary data sources: professional literature, scientific articles, and Internet sources. The empirical part of the paper presents the conclusions from in-depth interviews (conducted through a semi-structured survey questionnaire), held with certain key stakeholders of the local community of the city of Split. The questions within the empirical research were divided into two basic groups. The first group of questions refers to the effects of tourism on key aspects of the development of the city of Split, the vision of tourism development in the city of Split, and the role and level of engagement of individual stakeholder groups in the local community in the process of tourism development. The second group of questions relates to the "Living Lab" concept. The data were analyzed in such a way that repetitions and overlaps were sought in the attitudes of the interlocutors. The conducted empirical research is a fundamental contribution of the work because it gathered the views of various stakeholders of the local community of the city of Split, who are directly or indirectly involved in the processes of tourism development. Based on the information from the empirical research and the knowledge from the processed theoretical review, the paper provides recommendations for the future course of action in encouraging the participation of local stakeholders in shaping tourism development