As the tourist season is about to begin in many areas of the world, travelers could consider a specific type of vacation: community-based tourism (CBT). This involves residents inviting travelers to visit or stay in their communities to preserve socio-cultural values and provide financial income for the hosts who also serve as the service providers at tourist destinations. CBT is considered to be a sustainable form of tourism as it prioritizes holistic community and environmental benefits over nature preservation or charity-focused endeavours. Although the purpose is clear, can CBT be a contributing factor in reducing poverty levels and improving economic conditions in local communities? Explore some expert opinions below.
Key Takeaways:
- Originating in Thailand in the 1990s, CBT advocates for ‘tourism by the local people, for the local people’, empowering local communities as the primary decision-makers in their tourism development.
- According to experts, CBT has the potential to reduce poverty by creating jobs, generating income, and providing a stable source of revenue throughout the year.
- CBT facilitates cultural exchange and allows residents to showcase their heritage, natural resources, and cultural practices.
- In terms of the challenges, unequal distribution of economic benefits within communities can occur, with some members benefiting more than others.
- Environmental impacts such as waste and water pollution, habitat destruction, and pressure on resources can be challenges.
- CBT is practiced widely in regions such as Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa, where it has been effective in creating jobs and improving local economies.
DevelopmentAid: How effective is community-based tourism in reducing poverty levels and improving economic conditions in local communities? What are the side effects of this form of tourism?
“Community-based tourism in general has the potential to achieve poverty alleviation, but it faces several challenges before it delivers positive impacts for local communities. Structural causes of uneven development and limited local capacity hinder the effectiveness of CBT in reducing poverty levels; the ownership of tourism assets by international companies and the lack of proper legal foundations for community sites can impede poverty alleviation. Issues such as limited community participation, lack of awareness, and ineffective organizations also impede successful CBT programs. Therefore, it is crucial that CBT efforts are carefully and flexibly designed, recognizing that success is a long-term proposition. Properly designed and implemented with strong community participation, CBT can contribute to poverty alleviation but there is always the chance of negative side-effects, manifested by increasing differentiation among the local residents, challenges to local decision-making, lack of tourism business knowledge and training resulting in failures and pseudo-participation. There must be a holistic approach to overall local community economic development. However, communities can and do benefit from well-structured CBT programs in several ways. For example, well-designed CBT efforts directly benefit local communities by creating jobs, generating income, and providing a stable source of revenue throughout the year. Next, cultural understanding can benefit both the community and the travelers by facilitating cultural exchange and promoting mutual understanding and appreciation, ensuring that visitors are provided with authentic and immersive experiences. Finally, by participating in CBT activities, residents have the opportunity to showcase their heritage, natural resources, and cultural practices, fostering a sense of pride and identity, and creating a feedback loop that promotes sustainable practices to protect the environment and natural resources.”
“Community-based tourism is an emerging product-based concept that supports the principles of sustainable tourism. These principles are economic viability, environmental responsibility, including the protection of nature (tourism assets) and climate change adaptation, and social acceptability, including respect for and the conservation of local culture, tradition, and custom. By having local village communities own, develop, manage, and promote tourism products based on their own heritage and socio-cultural values, a more authentic and diverse range of products can be offered. Host communities act as the service providers to the visitors, thereby reducing negative impacts. There is no substitute for local knowledge. Visitors get to experience unique locations, enjoy village activities (food, music, dance, storytelling) and learn more about ethical and responsible tourism, whereby their money will be used to further support local village communities. Importantly, while mainstream tourist industry partnerships or affiliations are often required for providing tourists (individuals and groups) and, in most cases, transport access to the villages and their sites, local communities can still earn an income and use the financial gains to develop either the tourism product (maintenance, upgrading, promotion) or other community projects (schools, water tanks, health clinics). This provides direct benefits to locals and improves the village community quality of life. Vanuatu’s only World Heritage Site is a successful community-based tourism product called Chief Roi Mata’s Domain. It was established in 2008 to reflect the ongoing significance of the landscapes and customs still held today in Vanuatu which extend back to oral traditions from the legacy of Paramount Chief Roi Mata who brought peace to central Vanuatu via his social innovations for conflict resolution. The product is owned and managed by a committee of representatives from the two villages of Mangaliliu and Lelepa. The locally guided boat tour visits three early 17th century sites – Mangaas old village foundations, where Roi Mata lived, Fels Cave on Lelepa Island where he died, and Artok Island where he is buried.”
“Community-based tourism can be seen as a double-edged sword in its impact on poverty levels and economic conditions in local communities. On one side, it has great potential for poverty reduction by generating employment across various sectors of tourism and hospitality. Additionally, CBT promotes cultural preservation which is crucial for safeguarding a community’s heritage. Moreover, it can foster community development through infrastructural improvements. CBT has succeeded in some cases because it involved community members directly in development efforts, which has a wider societal impact, contributing to an enhanced appreciation of local culture and resources and promoting environmental conservation. By creating employment and fostering awareness, it addresses poverty while promoting community-centric development. However, despite its benefits, CBT can face challenges. Economic benefits may not trickle down evenly to all community members, leading to unequal distribution. Overreliance on tourism can result in seasonal employment, causing income fluctuations and instability. Revenue leakage may hinder economic independence and there are various social and environmental impacts that can adversely affect communities. The success of CBT hinges on genuine collaboration with community members to ensure sustainable benefits that meet their needs. Its effectiveness relies on uplifting communities and ensuring that the perceived benefits translate into tangible improvements for residents. Thus, it is essential to prioritize community empowerment and sustainable development in CBT initiatives.”
“Community-based tourism is intensively conducted in middle-income countries (lower and upper) in Southeast Asia (e.g., Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia), Latin America (e.g., Bolivia, Colombia, Argentina), and Africa (e.g., Rwanda). CBT has been viewed as a significant tool to achieve poverty reduction and economic progress in local communities and an effective means to address mainstream tourism’s negative impacts. The effectiveness of CBT in reducing poverty and improving economic conditions can be seen in boosting job creation (especially for young people and women), increasing income, and improving health, education, and quality of life. There is also a deep sense of local ownership and cultural and natural heritage preservation. Studies have shown that the level of community engagement is directly linked to CBT income, which is why it is crucial that CBT initiatives are accepted and implemented by most community members. Some of the potential side effects of CBT initiatives are a dependence on tourism as a source of income, making local communities vulnerable to changes in the tourism market, uncontrolled development and inbound migration which can lead to overcrowding, strain resources, and the loss of cultural authenticity, waste, and water pollution due to a lack of sustainable waste management practices. It is important to note that the effectiveness and side effects can vary based on the specific implementation and management of CBT initiatives in different communities. Proper planning and management, both at local and national levels, are crucial to maximize the benefits and minimize the potential negative impacts of CBT initiatives.”
“Community-based tourism has the potential for poverty alleviation, although this potential is often not achieved at the levels desired in practice. Recurring challenges with these enterprises include propensities for the socioeconomic elite to benefit at others’ expense and individual/household income gains that are too small to make substantive changes to financially poor people’s livelihoods. Nonetheless, community-based tourism shows promise for poverty alleviation, particularly through investment in training opportunities that open doors for higher-wage jobs among community members and investment in often underfunded collective areas such as education and healthcare services. Practical guidance for development practitioners that promote community-based tourism includes remembering that tourism is often a supplementary, not exclusive, income source for rural poor households and that it should integrate with households’ other livelihood activities for more effective poverty alleviation. Further, stronger collective local authority over tourism can better ensure localized tourism benefits, but we need to remember that the ‘communities’ that implement community-based tourism are not homogenous, and strong, local collective governance requires recognition of community heterogeneity.”
“Community-based tourism has gained prominence in developing countries given its potential for sustainable development and poverty alleviation. CBT offers an alternative to mass tourism while promoting community entrepreneurship (southern coast of Vietnam). CBT projects have the potential to sustain themselves and provide meaningful contributions to tourism. CBT can contribute to the sustainability of the economic, social, cultural, and environmental aspects of the community. However, the success of CBT depends on key elements such as participatory planning, capacity building, and collaboration. When practiced well, CBT can provide exceptional opportunities for communities and enhance their contribution to tourism planning and management. CBT can also facilitate conservation efforts in natural environments. The potential side effects of community-based tourism include a dependency on tourism income which can leave communities vulnerable to fluctuations in visitor numbers or economic downturns if other sectors are neglected. Cultural commodification is another concern, as commercializing cultural practices may lead to their distortion or the prioritization of activities that cater to tourists’ expectations over authentic cultural expressions. Increased tourism activity may disrupt local social dynamics, causing conflicts over resource allocation or cultural appropriation, necessitating careful planning and stakeholder engagement to maintain community well-being. Additionally, uncontrolled tourism growth can result in environmental degradation, habitat destruction, and pressure on natural resources, emphasizing the need for sustainable management practices and responsible visitor behavior to mitigate these negative impacts.”
“Improving the quality of local populations at the communal level is considered a solution to protect the natural environment and local biodiversity. The local rural population often lives in self-built houses that lack basic facilities, tools, access to financial resources, and sustainable infrastructure. To improve the quality of life of local people, it is essential to assist them to reconstruct their habitat to make these areas attractive for eco- or green tourism. According to the UNWTO, sustainable tourism should ensure viable, long-term economic operations and provide fairly distributed socio-economic benefits to all stakeholders, including stable employment, income-earning opportunities, and social services to the host communities. This potential for poverty alleviation through sustainable tourism is not just a potential but a beacon of hope for many communities. A key to successful and sustainable tourism development at the local community level, particularly in settlements adjacent to or located directly in the territory of national parks, plantations, protected forests and riverbanks, is the active involvement of the local population. By encouraging them to take care of natural resources and biodiversity, we ensure the preservation of these invaluable assets and also empower the locals. The creation of green jobs for the indigenous population further underscores their importance in this process, making them feel valued and integral to the success of sustainable tourism. More precisely, green jobs are decent jobs that reduce energy and raw material consumption, limit greenhouse gas emissions, minimize waste and pollution, and protect and restore ecosystems. Jobs are green when they help to reduce negative environmental impact, ultimately leading to economically and socially sustainable enterprises and economies.”
“Community tourism is an approach that aims to involve local populations in the tourism development of their region and its operation. It offers valuable economic and social opportunities in territories that are often precarious, remote, or forgotten by modernity and infrastructure development, with few jobs. It positions itself as a regional destination highlighting the heritage of the regions and offering authentic tourism, which often combines nature and culture. Its development perspective is above all to be sustainable and alternative tourism. Community-based tourism can be effective in reducing poverty by working towards a more equitable distribution of income generated by tourism for locals. Its objective is to attract tourists through the discovery of cultures and meeting the locals by highlighting tourist products such as hiking, cooking classes, etc. This form of tourism is unifying and contributes to local governance by involving all stakeholders, improving the economic conditions of communities by creating local jobs and encouraging the development of small businesses. It preserves the natural and cultural resources of the regions. However, side effects can also be observed and could prove dangerous, particularly for less developed countries, such as the degradation of biodiversity and the erosion of local tourism resources. It is often a corollary to negative impacts on the environment and local cultures due to uncontrolled tourism development. Thus, although community tourism can bring economic benefits to local communities, it is essential to guarantee sustainable and equitable development and to control it so that it does not disrupt the traditional lifestyles of local populations, as well as their culture, customs, and identity.”
“Community-based tourism offers alternative income generation sources for host communities. This means that an integral part needs to take into account regenerative travel, where visitors make a positive impact by actively contributing to the restoration, preservation, and improvement of environments, cultures, and communities. Additionally, any CBT/regenerative travel initiative requires an active conversation between the tour operators and the communities so that visits occur on the community’s own terms, rather than those imposed by tourism service providers or their customers. Travelers need to be informed ahead of time by tour operators that they are guests and should respect local cultures, norms, and traditions. When implemented correctly, with proper monitoring and verification protocols, CBT can have a positive impact while mitigating any possible negative effects such as overcrowding, environmental degradation, limited access to natural resources, and increased dependency on tourism expenditure.”
“Community-based tourism means, in fact, a significant involvement of local communities (particularly in developing countries) in the organization, management, benefits, etc., of tourism-related activities. Various positive examples can be provided, particularly the role of the Masai communities in the national parks visited in East Africa. Community-based tourism needs to be organized on a limited basis for tourists. Ten buses a day with 60 tourists each visiting an artisanal village in Thailand only to buy souvenirs is not community-based tourism. Another negative example is the visits to some ethnic communities in Ethiopia without any consideration for their way of life. Women intend to attract tourists and receive small amounts of money whereas it would be better to provide a lump sum to the head of the village for investments such as a small school or some health equipment. The side effects of poorly managed “tourism” could be the progressive disappearance of local cultures and an increase in poverty.”
“Community-based tourism has emerged as a pivotal strategy for fostering sustainable livelihoods and economic empowerment within communities, particularly in the Caribbean region, where a high percentage of economies are tourism-dependent. Drawing upon my experience in the tourism sector and engagement with various communities, I have witnessed firsthand the transformative potential of CBT in alleviating poverty and bolstering local economies. Research from organizations such as the UN’s World Tourism Organization and academic studies underscore the efficacy of CBT in poverty reduction. By capitalizing on local assets and engaging community members as active participants in tourism development, CBT initiatives create diverse income streams that contribute to sustainable economic growth. For instance, initiatives such as community-owned guesthouses, guided tours led by locals, and artisanal craft cooperatives not only generate revenue but also empower residents to take ownership of their tourism enterprises. In the tourism landscape in 2024, there was a growing demand for authentic and immersive experiences, aligning perfectly with the principles of community-based experiential tourism. Travelers are increasingly seeking meaningful interactions with local cultures and environments, and CBT provides precisely that. Through curated experiences that showcase the unique heritage, traditions, and natural beauty of communities, tourists can gain a deeper understanding of the destination while directly contributing to the economic well-being of local residents.”
“From the Asian perspective and context, community-based tourism holds much promise for poverty reduction and economic improvement, ONLY if developed appropriately as an additional source of income, even if this source is more significant than the traditional ones (e.g., fishing, farming), strictly incorporating its principles, and establish mechanisms to safeguard against unsustainable expansion. Firstly, there is every tendency for CBT entrepreneurs to completely shift from traditional incomes to tourism incomes because financial gains are much higher and occur immediately. Time and time again, tourism has been affected by random events – both natural and human-induced – that badly affect micro-entrepreneurs, especially when there is no fallback livelihood to see them through the event. Secondly, CBT is rarely a practice that is true to its principles. By right, CBT is an “economically, environmentally, socially, and culturally responsible visitation to local/indigenous communities to enjoy and appreciate their cultural and natural heritage, whose tourism resources, products, and services are developed and managed with their active participation, and whose benefits from tourism, tangible or otherwise, are collectively enjoyed by the communities” (Boonratana, 2010). Frequently, CBT is erroneously used to describe all forms of tourism associated with a local or indigenous community. It simply means that visitors are not obligated to be economically, environmentally, socially, and culturally responsible, and the tourism products and services are primarily a collection of individually owned, developed, and managed businesses that may not even be local or indigenous. Governing bodies either do not have stringent criteria to certify CBT products and services or fail to implement rigid criteria. Thirdly, CBT enterprises and destinations tend to expand their products and services without due consideration to the limits of the acceptable capacity of their products, services, and destinations, ultimately causing their social, cultural and environmental assets to degrade and ultimately lose the very assets that generate income for them and bind their communities. A major concern is that governments, NGOs, aid agencies, and foundations are so gung-ho about employing CBT to improve livelihoods without ensuring adherence to the CBT principles and taking the necessary precautions.”
“The pros of community-based tourism are that it stimulates the economy, explores the potential of the local community, and, most importantly, promotes environmental conservation, which is crucial for the whole world. It also enhances the livelihoods of local people. Tourists can visit a CBT project where they can engage with and understand the local community’s culture and habits, contributing to the exploration of the community and culture. Another benefit of CBT s is that locals have all the decision-making power, and the income stays within the community. CBT is about meeting each other and creating meaningful encounters that can inspire everyone for the rest of their lives. Now let’s look at the cons – CBT, for the country as a whole, also brings to light some valid points that must be handled with careful consideration due to long-term repercussions. Lastly, the loss of culture, including age-old rituals, language, food, and religion, may not modernize CBT but instead act as an exploitation of tourism.”
“Community-based tourism has emerged as a transformative force in Kyrgyzstan, offering a beacon of hope for poverty alleviation and sustainable development in rural areas. By harnessing the rich cultural and natural assets of the country, CBT initiatives empower local communities economically and socially while preserving their heritage for future generations. In Kyrgyzstan, where traditional jobs are scarce, community-based tourism offers a lifeline for rural residents. With few large factories or industries, many are forced to seek work abroad. However, CBT provides a solution by creating jobs and income opportunities within local communities. Through homestays, tours, and craft workshops, residents can earn a living while showcasing their culture. This not only reduces poverty but also builds economic resilience and lessens dependence on unstable industries. Moreover, CBT serves as a custodian of cultural heritage. By showcasing traditional practices, cuisines, and crafts, communities retain their identity amidst the tide of globalization. Visitors engage authentically with local customs, forging meaningful connections and fostering cross-cultural understanding. However, CBT’s success is not without its challenges. Dependency on tourism revenue, cultural commodification, environmental degradation, and social disruption loom as potential pitfalls. Careful planning, sustainable practices, and community involvement are vital to mitigate these risks. Another significant issue with CBT is the reluctance to open doors to new members and expand its ranks. This insularity can hinder the growth and inclusivity of CBT initiatives, limiting their potential impact on communities. To address this, fostering a culture of openness and collaboration within CBT networks is essential. Encouraging existing members to mentor and support newcomers, providing training and resources for new entrants, and establishing transparent criteria for membership can help to overcome barriers to entry. Additionally, promoting the benefits of diversity and actively reaching out to underrepresented groups can enrich CBT initiatives and ensure that they truly serve the interests of all community members. As Kyrgyzstan continues its journey towards inclusive and sustainable development, CBT stands as a testament to the power of grassroots initiatives in transforming lives and landscapes. By embracing the ethos of community empowerment and responsible tourism, Kyrgyzstan can chart a course towards a brighter, more equitable future for all.”
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