Community Based Tourism
Finding the Euilibrium in the COMCEC Context
1
INTRODUCTION
The Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of
Islamic Cooperation (COMCEC) has been working to enhance economic and commercial
cooperation among the Member States since 1984. One of the cooperation areas of the
COMCEC is tourism.
Tourism is an important sector of the economy in both developed and developing
countries. It contributes to the economic growth, job creation and poverty alleviation and
fosters cross cultural understanding and well-being among countries.
Tourism sector has a great potential for the socio-economic development of the COMCEC
member countries. However, this performance could not be realized adequately due to
insufficient tourism-related infrastructure and investments, unskilled tourism workforce,
low-capacity tourism administrations, lack of tourism diversification and lack of effective
marketing strategies in the COMCEC Member Countries.
In recent years, international organizations developed several programs/ models for
benefiting from tourism in rural development and poverty alleviation. One of these models
is the Community Based Tourism (CBT) which provides income to local communities by
ensuring their involvement in the tourism activities. CBT also contributes to regions’
economic development and cultural and environmental conservation without damaging
their tourist attractions. Considering that 21 out of 57 member countries of the COMCEC
are the Least Developed Member Countries (LDCs), CBT can be an important tool for the
COMCEC region in rural development and poverty alleviation.
This study is conducted upon the request of the COMCEC Coordination Office in order to
increase awareness on the CBT and evaluate the CBT potential in the COMCEC region. It
highlights the CBT potential, challenges, and remedy strategies in applying CBT in COMCEC
member countries that are marked by the Islamic culture. The diversity in characteristics
of the COMCEC Member Countries, which are spread across different continents, makes it
difficult to approach them as a region that can be offered one-fits-all type strategies
common enough to be applicable for them all. Some insights and suggestions provided in
the study, however, can be applicable for the majority of the member countries if not all.
Since tourist-generating countries are usually from Western countries, special attention
needs to be paid to cultural similarities and differences to generate strategies that build
awareness and engage interest. Tourism may evoke cultural clashes in the presence of
distinct socioeconomic and cultural differences between the host and guest societies.
Tourism is also believed to enhance awareness and understanding about different cultures,
including heritage and religions, when proper tourism practices are followed. Therefore,
historical and cultural backgrounds, and cultural and social distances are both potential
challenges and opportunities which are kept in perspective in outlining this study. The
study aims to keep authenticity in perspective while striving to provide those basics
demanded by the global tourists. This could be accomplished by a dual approach: with the