Community Based Tourism
Finding the Euilibrium in the COMCEC Context
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Governments are expected to provide an enabling national policy framework incorporating
CBT principles to facilitate local governance with participatory and all-inclusive planning,
decision-making, investment and ownership, community empowerment and equitable
distribution of benefits. Governments and organizations provide continuous psychological,
financial, technical and educational support in all steps of CBT development.
Governments and organizations are also instrumental in providing financial and technical
support for developing infrastructure, sites and products, establishing partnerships,
developing individual and institutional capacity before empowerment of locals.
Educational institutions can be facilitators in provision of labor force, generation of
demand through educational tourism and provision of knowledge through research. These
parties are only facilitators for the participation and involvement of the actual
beneficiaries, the locals. Hence, there is a need for strategic networking and partnerships
among local communities, NGOs, academics, private businesses and government to build
locals’ knowledge, skills, and self-confidence, as well as social capital for governance.
Although most CBT projects are initiated and carried out by national or international
organizations, NGOs or donor agencies, the success level depends on the extent of locals’
capacity and involvement in participatory planning, decision-making, development,
management and sharing of benefits and costs of tourism development. This principle is
also valid for the COMCEC Member Countries. Therefore, while it may not be realistic for
every destination to employ a full-blown community based decision-making system, it is
still critical that public institutions initiate other forms of decision-making mechanisms
which allow the active involvement of all stakeholders in tourism governance.
Establishing multi-party decision making organizations composed of governments, non-
governmental agencies, private institutions and most importantly local communities is
crucial. A tourism governance organization which brings these local members together and
employs a consensus-based decision-making process, might not only improve tourism
governance, but also contributes significantly to the sustainability of the decisions made.
Such an organization may provide the necessary social capital for an all-inclusive
participation and equity in planning, decision-making, management, ownership, and
distribution of benefits and costs, with a shared vision, motivation and discipline to follow
the rules, agendas and follow through actions.
Beside community participation, community contribution (e.g. time, labor, locally available
materials and money) is also required for enhanced ownership and responsibility. The
sustainability of the decisions made by a local governance organization foremost requires
economic sustainability of the organization itself. Examples from around the world indicate
that economic independence is crucial for tourism governance organizations to
successfully implement their decisions that might pertain to a variety of areas, from
structural development to capacity building. However in the short run, it might often be
5.2. Local Governance, Equity, and Capacity