The Character of Community-Based Tourism
>> Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Introduction
Tourism Influence and Growth
The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) describes travel and tourism as the world’s largest industry, generating more than US$4.4 trillion in economic activity and in 1998 supporting 231 million jobs,directly and indirectly, around the globe. Also, it’s predicted that this industry will grow to US$10 trillion in total demand and 328 million jobs by 2010 (see The Economic Impact of Travel and Tourism Development in the APEC Region at the WTTC site – http://www.wttc.org).
The influence of travel and tourism is expanding rapidly as more people, experiencing growth indisposable incomes and influenced by globalization trends, travel both domestically and internationally. According to the WTTC,within the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum membership, total demand related to travel and tourism has exceeded US$2 trillion. In 1998 it was estimated that the industry employed almost 90 million people. One in every 12.8 jobs within APEC member economies is believed to be directly or indirectly related to travel and tourism.
The gross economic benefits related to travel and tourism are clear and measurable. But the importance and influence of travel and tourism go far beyond simple revenues and job creation. Travel and tourism, perhaps more than any other industry, creates a wealth of opportunities and challenges, particularly at the community level.
The Community Tourism Industry
The influence of travel and tourism on a community is significant. Most obviously, tourists bring revenue. However, how this revenue is attracted and the number of people who reap the benefits vary greatly. So does the way the money is spent and how it is reinvested. At one extreme, large scale, all-inclusive resorts owned and operated by corporations may have little or no economic influence on a community. Tourists may be flown in, bused to the site, kept “secure” behind patrolled fences, and in some cases given neither the encouragement nor opportunity to spend time or money beyond the borders of the resort. People from the community may be offered only low-skilled minimum wage jobs. In these extreme cases, tourism becomes a highly sanitized, in-resort experience. The influence of this type of resort on the community is minimal. In effect, there are tourists, but no tourism industry.
At the other end of the continuum, communities, including various individuals and groups, small business owners, entrepreneurs, local associations and government officials are developing local tourism in innovative ways. The community tourism industry is, quite simply, the collection of businesses that creates and sells a variety of goods and services to visitors. The development of these industries is a growing phenomenon as communities respond to the opportunities, and in some cases the threats, of tourism.
Community-based tourism typically subscribes to a number of broadly defined goals. Perhaps most important, community-based tourism is socially sustainable.This means the tourism activities are developed and operated, for the most part, by local community members, and certainly with their consent and support. This is not to suggest that there aren’t dissenting views on tourism development when carried out at the local level, but it does imply that there is a forum for debate, and that the community encourages participation. It’s also important that a reasonable share of the revenues are enjoyed by the community in one way or another. This may include revenue streams which go to co-ops, joint ventures, community associations, businesses that widely employ local people, or to a range of entrepreneurs starting or operating small- and medium-sized enterprises.
Another important feature of community-based tourism is its respect for local culture, heritage and traditions. Often, community-based tourism actually reinforces and sometimes rescues these. Similarly, community-based tourism implies respect and concern for the natural heritage, particularly where the environment is one of the attractions.
Community-based tourism projects develop in a number of ways, and the structure, goals and themes represent different environments, growth patterns, cultural values and stages of development. The continuum with the private and fully-enclosed resort on one end, and the completely integrated community-based activity on the other, represents an idealistic notion. It would be difficult to find a tourism program where there is absolutely no local influence, just as it would be impossible to find an example of community-based tourism where there is unanimity internally and externally regarding the achievement and distribution of benefits. Taken in an international context, the variety of cultures and environments worldwide ensure that the implementation and outcomes of community-based tourism will be different, just as communities are different.
Recurring Themes
Regardless of differences, a brief survey of some of the best examples among members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum has identified recurring themes in the context of community-based tourism. First among these is the impetus for the development of community-based tourism. Not surprisingly, this is most often related to the expectation for economic gain, which in turn is often, although not always, related to need.
Communities suffering economic hardship often have the necessary drive to actively consider development options, and an appealing opportunity is the potential offered by tourism. Chemainus, on Canada’s west coast, is such an example. The town’s early history was tied to its forests and the associated industries. However, resource industries, particularly in western Canada and the U.S., are boom and bust activities, and they are extremely competitive. When the forest industry was in decline during the late 1970s and early 1980s, Chemainus appeared to be on the brink of economic disaster. The town, led by the Mayor, began searching for options, at which point Karl Schutz, a successful immigrant to the area, suggested that tourists would be drawn to large-scale outdoor murals. Now, Chemainus is known as the “mural town,” and is one of Canada’s biggest success stories in community-based tourism.
Desa Murni is another example of this theme. Located just 90 minutes north of Malaysia’s capital city of Kuala Lumpur, this area is economically challenged. However, local people worked together to create a homestay program and the results have had a dramatic effect on the local economy. Manyallaluk, the Aboriginal community south of Darwin, Australia, and Sandpoint, Idaho, in the U.S., are similar examples. In one way or another, participants worked together in order to attract tourists and deliver economic benefits to the community.
Another theme is that of leadership. Often the development of community-based tourism can be linked to the initial spark and leadership of one person or a small group. Fostering change and development on a community-wide scale is not easy. It requires someone with vision, imagination, and great energy. At Desa Murni, for example, a former school teacher by the name of Sahariman Hamdan took his dream and made it a reality by selling the community on it one homestay house at a time. Desa Murni has few outstanding physical attractions. Its program is based almost entirely on genuine hospitality. Sahariman is a modest man, unwilling to take much credit. However, it is difficult to imagine that without someone like him there would be a homestay program as effective and as beneficial to the community as the one that exists at Desa Murni today. Other examples of this leadership theme include the work of Milo Shantz, the visionary behind the development of St. Jacobs in Canada, a regional tourism destination, and Lin Kuo-long's redevelopment of the Shui-Li Snake Kiln in Nantou Country, Central Taipei.
In other cases, local and regional governments have provided leadership to develop or expand community-based tourism. For example, the tourism development in the Yulong Snow Mountain region in southwestern China was promoted through an Administrative Committee. Although provincial in nature, this committee worked with strong representation from the city of Lijiang. Sai Kung, a pretty little seaport village in Hong Kong, China, was developed with the support of a very active District Council which, in turn, worked and continues to work hand-in-hand with the central Hong Kong, China Government. Although there are some economic, social and political environments where the development of community-based tourism appears somewhat spontaneously, other areas of the world are more appropriately influenced by direction and support from a regional or central authority. Regardless, the outcomes for communities can be considerable.
The role of governments, local or regional, is also felt in other ways within the community-based tourism context. Although tourism within Singapore’s Little India has evolved almost naturally, government has played a key role in encouraging the preservation and conservation of the built heritage. Little India is not, however, unique in this regard. The theme is also seen in Korea’s Songup Folk Village, where the government through a variety of measures is encouraging the preservation and restoration of traditional architecture. In St. Jacobs, Canada, a private sector firm exerts pressure for uniformity in streetscapes, operating hours and the like.
Cultural heritage is one of the most important facets of community-based tourism. What do communities have that tourists find attractive? For many communities it is their culture and heritage. Visitors to Australia’s Manyallaluk community are attracted primarily for the opportunity to interact with Aboriginals and learn something of their life and culture. True, the natural environment is also an attractive feature, but the fact remains that similar environments can be experienced without the guides from Manyallaluk. New Zealand’s Tamaki Maori Village is similar. It represents an opportunity to experience elements of Maori life. Taiwan Folk Village in Chinese Taipei and Villa Escudero in the Philippines are comparable, except in these cases most of the tourists are learning about their own heritage. In fact, there is tremendous growth occurring in “cultural tourism”, as people travel locally and internationally to experience a small piece of either their own or someone else’s cultural heritage. Community-based tourism is replete with examples of community heritage and values being revitalized through the growth in tourism. See, for example, Korea’s Songup Folk Village and Chinese Taipei’s Shui-Li Snake Kiln Park.
The natural environment is also a key theme for many community-based tourism activities. El Nido in the Philippines, Umphang District in Thailand, Sandpoint, Idaho in the U.S., Dwellingup in Australia, and the Huangshan Mountains and Yulong Snow Mountain area in the People’s Republic of China are excellent examples of cases where communities benefit from the influx of tourists drawn to the environmental experience. As with heritage and culture, the influx of tourists has in many cases actually increased environmental protection and conservation. Local communities have come to recognize that, should the environment suffer, so will the revenues from tourists. Although there is natural friction between tourists and the environment, there are benefits to be reaped for the natural environment through planned, community-based tourism.
Another theme linked to the development of community-based tourism is the growth of employment opportunities, particularly for women, young people and aboriginals. For many people in societies throughout the world, the opportunity to earn money doesn’t come easily. Entrepreneurs of all sorts, including business people, artists, educators, and others who present or exemplify their culture and crafts, develop rapidly within the vicinity of any community-based tourism project, giving birth to all sorts of jobs and job opportunities.
Finally, it is interesting to note that somewhere in the continuum stretching from the large corporate-owned resort to the small community-based activities,there are cases where corporations and communities work hand-in-hand to develop tourism and share in the benefits. El Nido in the Philippines is one example where a large corporation demonstrated commitment to community participation and shared benefits during the tourism development process. Specifically, Ten Knots Corporation seeded an entrepreneurial spirit within the El Nido community. It provided support for the development and growth of a local foundation and implemented a philosophy that assumes shared accomplishments and opportunities are necessary for long term growth and the successful development of tourism in the area. This example is one that should be examined now and in the longer term by communities, governments and industry.
Planning for Community-based Tourism
Community-based tourism can develop in a myriad of ways. However, communities that have based tourism development on an open and inclusive process appear to reap benefits earlier, more broadly and in a more sustainable fashion. The experience of Klong Khwang Village in Thailand is a good example of this planning process.
Suggested steps in the development of community-based tourism include the following:
Getting Organized
-Form a local team or action committee in order to develop assess- ment procedures. The team should be widely inclusive and action-oriented.
Identify Community Values
-Spend time determining what the community expects to get from tourism, what it is willing to contribute and what it is not willing to give up. Survey community members to determine their interests and values. It is important to determine the boundaries for tourism.
Visioning Process
-Use community meetings to establish the vision and set broad goals.Seek community involvement and commitment to the ends.
Inventory of Attractions
-Determine what the community has to offer tourists. Identify these attractions by category and the kind of tourist who would be attracted.
Assessment of Attractions
-Each attraction requires an in-depth analysis of its potential, including clear and detailed examination of the quality of the attraction and tourism target market.
Establish Objectives
-Treat the attractions as units, and develop objectives for each of them, complete with cost/benefit analysis.
Impact Analysis
-Determine the potential economic, social and environmental costs. Create plans to minimize or overcome these costs.
Business Plan
-Select priorities, establish yearly objectives including funding sources, identify target goals.
Marketing Plan
-Develop marketing strategies for each attraction.
The most important aspect of any community-based tourism development plan is ensuring ongoing community involvement. At each stage, awareness and education should be an important element. This will not only keep people interested and supportive,but it will also prepare them to take advantage of opportunities. That is the essence of community-based tourism.
Tourism Influence and Growth
The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) describes travel and tourism as the world’s largest industry, generating more than US$4.4 trillion in economic activity and in 1998 supporting 231 million jobs,directly and indirectly, around the globe. Also, it’s predicted that this industry will grow to US$10 trillion in total demand and 328 million jobs by 2010 (see The Economic Impact of Travel and Tourism Development in the APEC Region at the WTTC site – http://www.wttc.org).
The influence of travel and tourism is expanding rapidly as more people, experiencing growth indisposable incomes and influenced by globalization trends, travel both domestically and internationally. According to the WTTC,within the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum membership, total demand related to travel and tourism has exceeded US$2 trillion. In 1998 it was estimated that the industry employed almost 90 million people. One in every 12.8 jobs within APEC member economies is believed to be directly or indirectly related to travel and tourism.
The gross economic benefits related to travel and tourism are clear and measurable. But the importance and influence of travel and tourism go far beyond simple revenues and job creation. Travel and tourism, perhaps more than any other industry, creates a wealth of opportunities and challenges, particularly at the community level.
The Community Tourism Industry
The influence of travel and tourism on a community is significant. Most obviously, tourists bring revenue. However, how this revenue is attracted and the number of people who reap the benefits vary greatly. So does the way the money is spent and how it is reinvested. At one extreme, large scale, all-inclusive resorts owned and operated by corporations may have little or no economic influence on a community. Tourists may be flown in, bused to the site, kept “secure” behind patrolled fences, and in some cases given neither the encouragement nor opportunity to spend time or money beyond the borders of the resort. People from the community may be offered only low-skilled minimum wage jobs. In these extreme cases, tourism becomes a highly sanitized, in-resort experience. The influence of this type of resort on the community is minimal. In effect, there are tourists, but no tourism industry.
At the other end of the continuum, communities, including various individuals and groups, small business owners, entrepreneurs, local associations and government officials are developing local tourism in innovative ways. The community tourism industry is, quite simply, the collection of businesses that creates and sells a variety of goods and services to visitors. The development of these industries is a growing phenomenon as communities respond to the opportunities, and in some cases the threats, of tourism.
Community-based tourism typically subscribes to a number of broadly defined goals. Perhaps most important, community-based tourism is socially sustainable.This means the tourism activities are developed and operated, for the most part, by local community members, and certainly with their consent and support. This is not to suggest that there aren’t dissenting views on tourism development when carried out at the local level, but it does imply that there is a forum for debate, and that the community encourages participation. It’s also important that a reasonable share of the revenues are enjoyed by the community in one way or another. This may include revenue streams which go to co-ops, joint ventures, community associations, businesses that widely employ local people, or to a range of entrepreneurs starting or operating small- and medium-sized enterprises.
Another important feature of community-based tourism is its respect for local culture, heritage and traditions. Often, community-based tourism actually reinforces and sometimes rescues these. Similarly, community-based tourism implies respect and concern for the natural heritage, particularly where the environment is one of the attractions.
Community-based tourism projects develop in a number of ways, and the structure, goals and themes represent different environments, growth patterns, cultural values and stages of development. The continuum with the private and fully-enclosed resort on one end, and the completely integrated community-based activity on the other, represents an idealistic notion. It would be difficult to find a tourism program where there is absolutely no local influence, just as it would be impossible to find an example of community-based tourism where there is unanimity internally and externally regarding the achievement and distribution of benefits. Taken in an international context, the variety of cultures and environments worldwide ensure that the implementation and outcomes of community-based tourism will be different, just as communities are different.
Recurring Themes
Regardless of differences, a brief survey of some of the best examples among members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum has identified recurring themes in the context of community-based tourism. First among these is the impetus for the development of community-based tourism. Not surprisingly, this is most often related to the expectation for economic gain, which in turn is often, although not always, related to need.
Communities suffering economic hardship often have the necessary drive to actively consider development options, and an appealing opportunity is the potential offered by tourism. Chemainus, on Canada’s west coast, is such an example. The town’s early history was tied to its forests and the associated industries. However, resource industries, particularly in western Canada and the U.S., are boom and bust activities, and they are extremely competitive. When the forest industry was in decline during the late 1970s and early 1980s, Chemainus appeared to be on the brink of economic disaster. The town, led by the Mayor, began searching for options, at which point Karl Schutz, a successful immigrant to the area, suggested that tourists would be drawn to large-scale outdoor murals. Now, Chemainus is known as the “mural town,” and is one of Canada’s biggest success stories in community-based tourism.
Desa Murni is another example of this theme. Located just 90 minutes north of Malaysia’s capital city of Kuala Lumpur, this area is economically challenged. However, local people worked together to create a homestay program and the results have had a dramatic effect on the local economy. Manyallaluk, the Aboriginal community south of Darwin, Australia, and Sandpoint, Idaho, in the U.S., are similar examples. In one way or another, participants worked together in order to attract tourists and deliver economic benefits to the community.
Another theme is that of leadership. Often the development of community-based tourism can be linked to the initial spark and leadership of one person or a small group. Fostering change and development on a community-wide scale is not easy. It requires someone with vision, imagination, and great energy. At Desa Murni, for example, a former school teacher by the name of Sahariman Hamdan took his dream and made it a reality by selling the community on it one homestay house at a time. Desa Murni has few outstanding physical attractions. Its program is based almost entirely on genuine hospitality. Sahariman is a modest man, unwilling to take much credit. However, it is difficult to imagine that without someone like him there would be a homestay program as effective and as beneficial to the community as the one that exists at Desa Murni today. Other examples of this leadership theme include the work of Milo Shantz, the visionary behind the development of St. Jacobs in Canada, a regional tourism destination, and Lin Kuo-long's redevelopment of the Shui-Li Snake Kiln in Nantou Country, Central Taipei.
In other cases, local and regional governments have provided leadership to develop or expand community-based tourism. For example, the tourism development in the Yulong Snow Mountain region in southwestern China was promoted through an Administrative Committee. Although provincial in nature, this committee worked with strong representation from the city of Lijiang. Sai Kung, a pretty little seaport village in Hong Kong, China, was developed with the support of a very active District Council which, in turn, worked and continues to work hand-in-hand with the central Hong Kong, China Government. Although there are some economic, social and political environments where the development of community-based tourism appears somewhat spontaneously, other areas of the world are more appropriately influenced by direction and support from a regional or central authority. Regardless, the outcomes for communities can be considerable.
The role of governments, local or regional, is also felt in other ways within the community-based tourism context. Although tourism within Singapore’s Little India has evolved almost naturally, government has played a key role in encouraging the preservation and conservation of the built heritage. Little India is not, however, unique in this regard. The theme is also seen in Korea’s Songup Folk Village, where the government through a variety of measures is encouraging the preservation and restoration of traditional architecture. In St. Jacobs, Canada, a private sector firm exerts pressure for uniformity in streetscapes, operating hours and the like.
Cultural heritage is one of the most important facets of community-based tourism. What do communities have that tourists find attractive? For many communities it is their culture and heritage. Visitors to Australia’s Manyallaluk community are attracted primarily for the opportunity to interact with Aboriginals and learn something of their life and culture. True, the natural environment is also an attractive feature, but the fact remains that similar environments can be experienced without the guides from Manyallaluk. New Zealand’s Tamaki Maori Village is similar. It represents an opportunity to experience elements of Maori life. Taiwan Folk Village in Chinese Taipei and Villa Escudero in the Philippines are comparable, except in these cases most of the tourists are learning about their own heritage. In fact, there is tremendous growth occurring in “cultural tourism”, as people travel locally and internationally to experience a small piece of either their own or someone else’s cultural heritage. Community-based tourism is replete with examples of community heritage and values being revitalized through the growth in tourism. See, for example, Korea’s Songup Folk Village and Chinese Taipei’s Shui-Li Snake Kiln Park.
The natural environment is also a key theme for many community-based tourism activities. El Nido in the Philippines, Umphang District in Thailand, Sandpoint, Idaho in the U.S., Dwellingup in Australia, and the Huangshan Mountains and Yulong Snow Mountain area in the People’s Republic of China are excellent examples of cases where communities benefit from the influx of tourists drawn to the environmental experience. As with heritage and culture, the influx of tourists has in many cases actually increased environmental protection and conservation. Local communities have come to recognize that, should the environment suffer, so will the revenues from tourists. Although there is natural friction between tourists and the environment, there are benefits to be reaped for the natural environment through planned, community-based tourism.
Another theme linked to the development of community-based tourism is the growth of employment opportunities, particularly for women, young people and aboriginals. For many people in societies throughout the world, the opportunity to earn money doesn’t come easily. Entrepreneurs of all sorts, including business people, artists, educators, and others who present or exemplify their culture and crafts, develop rapidly within the vicinity of any community-based tourism project, giving birth to all sorts of jobs and job opportunities.
Finally, it is interesting to note that somewhere in the continuum stretching from the large corporate-owned resort to the small community-based activities,there are cases where corporations and communities work hand-in-hand to develop tourism and share in the benefits. El Nido in the Philippines is one example where a large corporation demonstrated commitment to community participation and shared benefits during the tourism development process. Specifically, Ten Knots Corporation seeded an entrepreneurial spirit within the El Nido community. It provided support for the development and growth of a local foundation and implemented a philosophy that assumes shared accomplishments and opportunities are necessary for long term growth and the successful development of tourism in the area. This example is one that should be examined now and in the longer term by communities, governments and industry.
Planning for Community-based Tourism
Community-based tourism can develop in a myriad of ways. However, communities that have based tourism development on an open and inclusive process appear to reap benefits earlier, more broadly and in a more sustainable fashion. The experience of Klong Khwang Village in Thailand is a good example of this planning process.
Suggested steps in the development of community-based tourism include the following:
Getting Organized
-Form a local team or action committee in order to develop assess- ment procedures. The team should be widely inclusive and action-oriented.
Identify Community Values
-Spend time determining what the community expects to get from tourism, what it is willing to contribute and what it is not willing to give up. Survey community members to determine their interests and values. It is important to determine the boundaries for tourism.
Visioning Process
-Use community meetings to establish the vision and set broad goals.Seek community involvement and commitment to the ends.
Inventory of Attractions
-Determine what the community has to offer tourists. Identify these attractions by category and the kind of tourist who would be attracted.
Assessment of Attractions
-Each attraction requires an in-depth analysis of its potential, including clear and detailed examination of the quality of the attraction and tourism target market.
Establish Objectives
-Treat the attractions as units, and develop objectives for each of them, complete with cost/benefit analysis.
Impact Analysis
-Determine the potential economic, social and environmental costs. Create plans to minimize or overcome these costs.
Business Plan
-Select priorities, establish yearly objectives including funding sources, identify target goals.
Marketing Plan
-Develop marketing strategies for each attraction.
The most important aspect of any community-based tourism development plan is ensuring ongoing community involvement. At each stage, awareness and education should be an important element. This will not only keep people interested and supportive,but it will also prepare them to take advantage of opportunities. That is the essence of community-based tourism.
Source: http://www.community-tourism.org/
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