Community Based Tourism
Finding the Euilibrium in the COMCEC Context
6
Sustainable tourism requires ecologically sound actions without any damage to the
environment, largely consisting of locally based and small-scale developments - not to
exploit the locals but to sustain their cultural, heritage and economic wellbeing (Pigram,
1992).
The sustainable tourism development concept lead to several different tourism resource
management models, alternative to mass tourism, including green tourism, rural tourism,
nature-based tourism, heritage tourism, alternative tourism, low impact tourism, conscious
tourism, fair trade tourism, soft tourism, appropriate tourism, quality tourism, responsible
tourism, responsive tourism, ecotourism, pro-poor tourism, progressive tourism, sensitive
tourism, postindustrial tourism and voluntourism. The 21st century started in favor of
these new sustainable tourism models due to changes in tourist preferences (Lopez-
Guzman et al, 2011). Advancement in information technology increased awareness about
the environmental, social and economic perils of the world, including negative impacts of
mass tourism. Moreover, access to information about previously unknown destinations
lead to familiarity as well as curiosity about unexplored destinations. Thus, a new type of
tourist emerged with the potential to appreciate and search for new destinations based on
cultural experience enrichment. Depending on their characteristics and situational factors,
the new tourists searched for destinations providing these newly defined sustainable
tourism experiences.
Sustainable development and sustainable tourism arguments naturally highlighted tourism
as a viable and sustainable development strategy. As the world’s largest and one of the
fastest growing industries, tourism has been promoted as a feasible strategy for promoting
international trade, economic development sustainability, and the best tool to alleviate
poverty in the LDCs (Honeck, 2008; Scheyvens, 2007; UNCTAD, 2007; UNWTO, 2006,
2007a, 2007b, 2008, 2009, 2013).
Tourism enables linkages among local enterprises. Due to its labor intensive nature,
tourism enables employing potentially unskilled and underprivileged groups such as youth
and women. Tourism’s economic development potential for creation of employment,
poverty reduction, human development and environmental sustainability has long been
realized by international organizations. Therefore, several tourism development programs
have been formulated by the international organizations and institutions including the
United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), World Bank, World Trade
Organization (WTO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Travel and Tourism
Council (WTTC).
In 2002, UNWTO has launched a program entitled “Sustainable Tourism for the Elimination
of Poverty Program (ST-EP)”. Under this program, 140 projects were accomplished in 19
countries and some trans-frontier areas according to the criteria set shown in Box 1.
1.4. Sustainable Development, Tourism, Poverty Reduction, and the LDCs