The Community Based Tourism Tourism Essay

Community-based tourism is gaining prestige all over the world as an alternative to mass tourism. This new type of tourism favors a contact with the local community and the experimentation of different sensations. Hence, this assignment shows how community based tourism activities were developed and how it has been helping countries to come out of their poverty. The assignment also provides guidance on the issues to be addressed when developing Community Based Tourism (CBT) activities managed by local communities in regional and rural areas. It highlights the practical considerations when planning for and implementing CBT drawing on the experience of CBT activities.

The work showcases and draws lessons from good practice in CBT from around the world drawing from case study examples of good practice. It also identifies the underlying processes and practices that make CBT successful while also identifying key challenges and risks. The lower part of the assignment talks also about responsible tourism which is also an extremely vital part in the tourism industry. Responsible tourism makes people more responsible towards the environment and also helps to protect the communities at large.

In the last part, there is some recommendations given on both community based tourism and responsible tourism.

Chapter 1: Introduction

Tourism is one of the largest growing industries in the world (Choi and Sirakaya, 2008; United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) 2009). Tourism has been a great help and a boon to many countries, most especially the developing countries or countries with no alternative resources other than tourism. However in recent years, a change has been observed in the behavior of tourists. Tourists are now more and more getting interested in destination whereby local cultural, ethnics, indigenous customs and the historical heritage have their own importance and where they are managed in a responsible manner. There is no doubt that tourism contributes significantly to major economic benefits of countries, especially in the case of Small Island Developing State (SIDS) countries like Mauritius. Nevertheless, several studies have also shown that tourism industry also contributes to environmental degradation and negative social and cultural impacts (Choi and Sirakaya, 2008). Such factors have created an increase in an interest in Responsible tourism and Community Based Tourism (CBT).

Community based development is a form of development that takes place in the community, emphasizes maximum participation of community members in its design and implementation on several projects. The term Community Based Tourism (CBT) emerged in the mid 1990s. It is a form of ‘local’ tourism, favouring local service providers and suppliers and focused on interpreting and communicating the local culture and environment. It has been pursued and supported by communities, local government agencies and non-government organizations (NGOs). The chief aim is the socio-economic empowerment and value added experience for foreign and local visitors. In this way, this practice puts forward a new place for destinations, for mostly, the adventurous travelers as well as for the nature and culture lovers. The community involving in this type of tourism shares the money equally among each another. Hence, breaking the perception on tourism that only the rich people gets the profits and the one working hard for it gets nothing. Community based development gives the communities an opportunity to value the community asset which are mainly their traditions, inheritance, gastronomy and way of lives. It gives them a chance to indulge in these ventures where they can get great income whilst making the tourists’ holidays valuable. The locals are trained on how to begin and manage a business, environment awareness, product development and marketing.

There are a number of different terms used for very similar activities internationally, for instance, in Latin America the term rural tourism is often used, alongside CBT whereas in parts of Asia, eco-tourism is often delivered via CBT. Normally, sustainable tourism, community based tourism; rural tourism and eco-tourism have similar aims. Planning tourism to safeguard a destination’s cultural heritage and enhance its natural heritage while at the same time improving the socio economic welfare of communities. Eco-tourism, rural and community based tourism are seen as both a set of principles as well as a tourism market segment.

Community based tourism is thus regarded as a means to enhance community development, cultural heritage and conservation. It should also be used to deal with poverty (Equation, 2008). However, community based tourism is not a cure and cannot be seen as the only solution but it can be used as a powerful tool to achieve areas development (Telfer & Sharpley; 2008). However, any community based tourism practices will not be fruitful unless it is carry out in a responsible manner. The word ” responsible ” in tourism refers to ensuring that all forms of tourism are environment friendly, economically equitable, socially and culturally stable and eventually enriching for both hosts and visitors. Thus, it is primarily important to consider community based tourism but in a responsible manner.

Literature Review: 1.1 Benefits of community based tourism

The chief advantages of Community based tourism (CBT) are observed to create jobs, alleviate poverty, pride and satisfaction, community capacity building, revenue for preserving and upgrading the cultural sites. If community based tourism is well planned and done through the whole community, it can bring on great economic benefits to the community itself. Moreover, the five aspects of community development which was adapted from Suansri are mainly: social, economic, political, cultural and last but not the least, environmental. To begin with, social means people gathering together, makes decisions, puts the welfare of the community on front ward, makes fair and good judgment towards the locals and most importantly, treat everyone as equal.

Second, economic is one of the most fundamental one as it helps the community to be self dependent, expand local economy by the staying at the community lodgings and so on, hence, getting income from the local production. Therefore, it brings foreign currencies which make the country at whole moves forward. Next is political which involve the participation of the local people which tightened the bond among them. Fourth is cultural which build a kind of trust and respect among different cultures and hence, encourages cultural exchange. Last of all is environmental which makes the inhabitants of the community more aware of their environment, take actions towards the polluted areas and find an appropriate place to dispose the waste water. Most importantly, it is of vital importance to give the locals and insight about the environment that is educate them about the importance and drawbacks of it. A wrong picture has been portrayed on the development of tourism in local communities where it is believed that community takes advantage of the resources within community which is why government bodies do not seek the advice of the community before a project.

1.2 Advantages of community based tourism:

supports local economic development through diversification of employment

is financially viable

values and encourages equitable participation of local community

is ecologically sustainable and minimizes impact on the environment

preserves and promotes living cultural heritage and welfare

educates visitors about culture and nature

exhibits good management practices

Guarantees a quality and safe experience for all of individuals involved.

Ultimately, local communities are the chief reasons that enable tourists to discover local habitats, wildlife and celebrate and respect traditional cultures, rituals and wisdoms. Tourism can make a destination popular and well liked if they are really welcomed and well treated in that particular locality. Thus, this study gives the local community a boost up about tourism and henceforth can be an enthusiasm for further studies.

1.3 Constraints of CBT

Every community based tourism developer must ask the following questions from the very first stage of idea generation for the same:

Will the project enhance environment while adding value to the visitor’s experience?

Will the project be developed, operated and protected by the community?

Will the project provide social and economic benefits to the stakeholders/shareholders?

Will the project be operated with sound ethical business practices including adherence to regulations and standards set by government, agencies, stakeholders, shareholders and consumers?

Will the project offer professional services and value to the visitor and be competitive in the global marketplace?

If CBT is not properly devised and implemented, it is more likely to fail. According to the International Centre for Responsible Tourism (ICRT), major CBT projects fail mainly because:

Few projects understand the need for commercial activities: local people must sell crafts, food, accommodation and wildlife or cultural experiences to tourists. This is the only way to ensure a sustainable supply of local income or conservation funds.

CBT projects must engage with the private sector, including travel agents, tour operators and hoteliers. The earlier this engagement takes place and the closer the partnership, the more likely it is to succeed.

Location is critical: for poor people to benefit, tourists must stay in or near to these communities. Very few communities have tourism assets which are sufficiently strong to attract tourists – they rely on selling complementary goods and services. Tourists need to be close by for this to happen.

CBT projects do not always provide appropriate tourism facilities for generating income. For example, too many CBT initiatives rely on building lodges, which are capital intensive and need considerable maintenance, or walking trails from which it can be difficult to secure revenue.

Protected areas increasingly rely on money from tourists to pay for conservation initiatives.

Local communities often have to compete with conservation projects for revenues. Thus CBT projects failure can fail due to lack of financial viability, insufficient resources, lack of infrastructure and eventually due to lack of marketing capacity.

1.3.1 Lack of infrastructure:

Infrastructure refers to the physical traits of a location that are needed for tourism and more particularly, responsible tourism (Garci, 2008). Proper infrastructure is required to ensure the safety and good experiences of tourists in the community and for the sustainability of the industry. Examples of physical traits can be garbage collection, tourism information center, road signage, hospital or health centres, among others. A study done by Choi and Sirakaya (2006) noted that inadequate infrastructure is often barriers faced in an emerging or developed countries.

1.3.2 Lack of financial viability

Many tourism experts have worked hard to promote CBT around the world but the success of those projects remained questionable as their outcome varies. With constant donor funds, committed technical assistance and market linkages, a small number of projects have attained major pro poor profits benefits. However there has been many CBT projects that have failed due to financial viability, poor market access and poor governance.

1.3.3 Insufficient resources

A main barrier for CBT is inadequate resources. Scarce resources are linked with initial funding sources and opportunities for training to develop skills, knowledge and expertise related to tourism (Graci, 2008). Lack of funding is a persistent problem seen in tourism development, most particularly in rural communities in developing (Choi and Sirakaya, 2008). A lack of financial resources and training will limit or discourage community participation in the tourism development process, which is essential to the success of CBT development (Tosun, 2000).

1.3.4 Lack of marketing capacity

Marketing is another major barrier to establishing a viable tourism industry in rural communities and stem from the first barrier identified: inadequate resources. Cooper identifies that a lack of marketing capacity and lack of knowledge on how the marketing structure operates have caused CBT projects in the Caribbean to suffer (2004).

2. Responsible Tourism

Responsible tourism can be define as an approach that can be used to manage tourism with the aim of maximizing economic, social and environment benefits while at the same time minimizing costs to these destination. In simple words, Responsible tourism helps to create better place s for people to live in, and better places to visit. Responsible tourism approach aims to achieve the triple bottom line of sustainable development which are : economic growth, environment integrity and social justice.

Tourism is always in demand, be it eco, sustainable or responsible tourism. According to several research articles, this transformation has been mainly as responsible tourism helps to:

• minimizes negative economic, environmental, and social impacts;

• generates greater economic benefits for local people and enhances the well-being of host communities, improves working conditions and access to the industry;

• involves local people in decisions that affect their lives and life chances;

• makes positive contributions to the conservation of natural and cultural heritage, to the maintenance of the world’s diversity;

• provides more enjoyable experiences for tourists through more meaningful connections with local people, and a greater understanding of local cultural, social and environmental issues;

• provides access for physically challenged people; and

• is culturally sensitive, engenders respect between tourists and hosts, and builds local pride and confidence.

2.1 Advantages of responsible tourism

Responsible tourism is based on the perspective of ecological integrity, societal justice and capitalizing on local economic benefits which all add to making a superior place for people to reside in and superior places for people to visit. It focuses on tourism that maximizes the profit to local communities, minimizes negative social or environmental impacts, and helps local people conserve fragile cultures, habitats and species. Responsible tourism provides more pleasant experiences for tourists through more major exchanges with local people and a greater indulgence of local cultural, social and environmental issues. Responsible tourism requires that operators, hoteliers, governments, local people and tourists take responsibility and action to make tourism more sustainable.

2.2 Some of its features are explained below:

2.2.1 Economic growth

Hotels and companies purchase goods and services from local community by buying locally made furniture, crafts, clothing and other goods, assisting local producers to achieve the quality and quantity needed. Also encouraging guests to buy locally made goods by setting up craft sales area, which showcases local product. Buying of basic supplies locally and encouraging local suppliers to provide handcrafted packaging for soaps, menus, courtesy gifts and creating contracts with local entrepreneurs who provide good service

2.2.2 Employment opportunities for the villagers

Local industries targets to increase the number of local people employed and the percentage of your wage bill going to local residents are set by providing appropriate skills training programs for the staff, drawing up a community labor agreement with local representatives, setting out targets for employment and skills training, paying above the minimum wages for your area and link wages to positions and experience and providing staff with incentives and bonuses linked to performance or service levels.

2.2.3 Women empowerment Many women are given priorities to launch their own business in craft businesses, local cuisines and in garment industries.

2.2.4 Growth of agriculture and reclamation of wasteland:  The responsible Tourism programs optimized agricultural activities and proved that it can be profitable even in a tourism-driven economy. The Responsible Tourism experiments conveyed many who had left farming in the wake of tourism, back to the agriculture sector.

2.2.5 Positive contributions to the conservation of nature

There is land rehabilitation program, focusing on erosion control, clearing of alien vegetation and planting of indigenous flora, rules built to control off-road driving and other activities that impact on the environment and a nearby beach, forest or river adopted to organize litter cleanups and supporting local wildlife or nature conservation program by providing funds or volunteers.

2.2.6 Comprehensive view on development

The development envisaged by responsible tourism is not restricted to any particular aspect, field, area or community. It addresses all the issues – be it economic, cultural, environmental or social- related to tourism and coordinates with the various sectors.

2.2.7 Preparation of destination map and resource director

These are prepared in connection with the Responsible tourism as reliable guides which are of great use while implementing any development programme in the area such as brochures, local guidebooksetc.

2.2.8 Introduction of innovative tour packages

The packages like Village life experience and A Day with Farmers help the tourists have a more enjoyable experience while providing an economic boost to the villagers.

3. Sustainability issue in Responsible Tourism

In 1987, Bruntland Commission defined sustainability as the ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’. Sustainable tourism development must be able to meet the needs of the tourists and the local community but initiatives must be taken to protect and enhance the opportunity for the future. It is the capacity to manage all resources in such a way that is the environment, economic, social, and cultural factors. A report written by four industry bodies said that to be able to achieve sustainability, the industries should emphasize on best practices, certification programs and economic benefits gained by tourism rather than on the inherent challenges.

The first Conference organized on Responsible Tourism in Destinations was The World Summit on Sustainable Development. The conference communicated the same concepts as sustainable tourism that is the environmental, economic, and sociocultural impacts but also in ethics and human rights. For instance, they argued that companies should do things in a moral and ethical way (McLaren, 2006). A report written by four industry bodies said that to be able to achieve sustainability, the industries should focus on best practices, certification programs and economic benefits gained by tourism rather than on the inherent challenges. It does not only involve reducing the negative impacts but also improve those that exist.

Responsible Tourism is a concept of sustainable Tourism. The Responsible Tourism in Destinations (RTD) said that responsible Tourism should take initiatives in reducing negative environmental, economic and socio-cultural impacts. For instance, the local people should benefit from greater economy to improve their wellbeing, their working conditions must be refined, should be encouraged in decision making, contribute in the conservation of natural and cultural heritage and maintain the world’s diversity. Moreover, both tourists and local people must share more enjoyable experiences.

There must also be a good understanding of local cultural, social and environmental issues to be able to maintain cultural sensitivity, creating respect between tourists and host community so that the local people can be proud and confident.

3.1 Environmental Issues

For tourists, the quality of the environment is essential. However, tourism requires many activities which can cause negative environmental consequences. The impacts are caused by the construction of infrastructure like roads, airports, and facilities such as shops, resorts, hotels, restaurants, golf courses and so forth. These tourism developments can increasingly destroy the environment. Negative impacts arise when the number of tourist is greater than the environment’s capacity to cope within the acceptable limits of change. Lack of control in tourism development represents potential dangers to the natural resources. This leads to impacts, for instance soil erosion, pollution, releases into the sea, natural habitat loss, endangered species and also forest fires. It often cause tensions between the inhabitants as they struggle for the use of critical resources.

On the other hand, tourism has the ability to create positive outcomes on the environment by contributing to the protection and conservation of the environment. This can be useful in raising awareness of environmental issues and helps as a mean in financing to protect the natural zones, thus being more environmental friendly. Good initiatives can be taken by recycling, use of ecofriendly bags, bio products, using green mode of transport ,waste management and so forth. For example, cruise ships can act in a responsible way by considering wastewater treatment using Wastewater Purification System, recycling of waste and reducing emissions by using cleaner fuel. A step toward responsible tourism is that organizations should be more transparent. It is important for the organizations to provide detailed information to the local communities and stakeholders about what they do or not. This allows local communities and stakeholders to be informed and make judgments about whether they are behaving responsibly.

3.2 Economic Issues

Tourism can bring beneficial economic impacts such as the generation of foreign exchange, new job and employment opportunities, the stimulation of trade, income and entrepreneurship, development of new infrastructure and greater tax revenues which allow greater government spending or reduced taxes on other activities. Nevertheless, tourism can have negative consequences on the local community, for instance leakages of expenditure out of the local economy, increased tendencies to import, opportunity costs, displacement effects, over-dependence on tourism, inflation and higher land values, seasonality issues, over-reliance on foreign people, new or extra costs, and problems over foreign capital investment.

Therefore, it is vital to take into considerations these factors in a responsible manner and reduce these impacts, for example importing fewer products, by relying on other industries other than tourism, providing discounts during off peak seasons, recruiting more local employees and so forth. Furthermore, when there is competition between companies in a particular area, it is responsible to discourage other companies to be built knowing they will be underutilized or left unused. Therefore, the organizations should be responsible to stakeholders for generating profit and the communities. It is fundamental that the communities should receive fair, equitable, and widely distributed benefits from tourism.

3.3 Sociocultural issues

The socio-cultural impacts of tourism are the effects of local people in interaction with the tourist. For many reasons, the inhabitants are the weaker party in interactions with the tourists and service providers. The impacts arise when tourism brings about changes in value systems and behavior and threatens indigenous identity. Furthermore, changes often occur in community structure, family relationships, collective traditional life styles, ceremonies and morality resulting in deterioration in working and employment conditions, culture clashes and crime. These factors will obviously cause irritation of the local people towards tourists because of their standard of living.

Responsible operators should work with the local community to grow tourism at a pace and in a manner that is mutually beneficial to all involved. They should be able to listen to local people and try to make sure that the visitors have an opportunity to interact with and to experience local culture, and that local cultures are treated respectfully.

Using the responsible tourism helps to view tourism as useful exercise. It helps focus the analysis of ‘sustainability’ on the local community and stakeholders that are achieved by tourism. It is important to think in terms of sustainability to be able to help the local community get a better quality of life.

4. CBT in Mauritius

CBT practices in Mauritius are very limited but exist in Mauritius. One example where CBT was practiced was when there was the construction of Le Trou Aux Biches Hotel, whereby major benefits were provided to the inhabitants such as job creation, new health centre, new post office, new police station and better infrastructure. However even throughout this practice there were some constraints such as poor market access. It is important to highlight that 23 people , being inhabitants of the locality were unaware of the facilities and benefits that the project were bringing. Those 23 people even objected that an EIA license be issued for this project. It was later on after clearing all confusion that finally this project was finally accepted by the whole community. Hence in this case it can clearly devised that a good communication system is important between the development organization and the community.

4.1 How to carry out a CBT project effectively

First of all it is important to have an agreement or contract with the community. However the steps of developing CBT are as follows:

1. Choose a destination.

2. Do feasibility study of the project with the community and know their suggestions.

3. Set vision, mission and goal with the community such as the benefits of the project to them.

4. Develop a plan and prepare the community for them to manage tourism such as we can provide training and education to them.

5. Set direction for organisational management such as they must manage their resources efficiently and preserve resources also.

6. Train interpretive guides 7. Develop a marketing plan for CBT to the local community, the NGO’s, the government and so on.

8. Launch a pilot tour program for the public.

9. Then evaluate and monitor the process

4.2 Using Community Based Tourism as a Planning Procedure for a Mauritius

CBT as a planning procedure means that it combines the two approaches of community development and engagement to tourism planning, in other words it means that the local people decide the type of development and are also involve in the decision making. CBT should focus on the involvement of a community in the planning process to guide the strength and location of tourism development. Once the community have made these decisions they will then be in a position to own, operate, manage and control tourism development within their community like for example in Grand Bay some of the attraction are owned by the local community in this way there will be “community friendly and people centered” development. Here the community is the one from the start of the tourism development up to the last decision concerning the tourism development.

Community Tourism Planning Process

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5. Conclusion

Community-based tourism is developing in different parts of the world as consequence of tourists’ search to discover new destinations instead of traditional ones. This is facilitating the creation of certain tourism products which allow local communities to generate wealth for themselves, considering tourism to be a complementary economic activity and never an economic alternative to traditional activities. Community based tourism can hence be considered as a way to help to alleviate poverty, achieve community development and bring lots of benefits to the host community. Therefore, it is very important to adopt this concept in Mauritius so that the local community gets the opportunity to participate in various activities to bring tourism development in the country and get the opportunity to enrich themselves. Moreover, the community based tourism practices should be carried out in a responsible manner and the host community must think in terms of sustainability so as to minimize the environmental, economic and sociocultural impacts caused by Tourism. However, there are constraints with regards to Community Based Tourism due to poor marketing, lack of sponsoring organizations and eventually insufficient resources but the problems can be overcome if a proper planning procedure is adopted.