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THE ROLE OF COMMUNITY-BASED TOURISM IN ENSURING RESPONSIBLE

AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Prof. Dr. Walter Jamieson MCIP

Thammasat University

International Symposium Tourism and Endogenous Development – In Search for Sustainable Tourism Center for Sustainable Development Studies Toyo University October 2011

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I wish to acknowledge the advice and information from,

Khun Pawinee Sunalai (CITU), Dr. Napat Settachai (CITU), John Hummel (formerly with SNV) and the community

based team from Thammasat University.

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Personal Community Development and Tourism Voyage

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1975 CED

1980 TOURISM &

POVERTY REDUCTION

2000 COMMUNITY DESTIONATION PLANNING

LESSONS LEARNED

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1970 - 1980 Helping communities to help themselves in the

revitalization and economic development process

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Local Economies

Unemployment

Poverty

Lack of jobs Environmental

degradation

Loss of community

control

Problems can best be addressed by a community led, grassroots and integrated approach

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Community Economic Development

CED

Multifaceted approach

Directed locally

Renewing economies

Community benefit

Sustainable

Inclusive

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Building a Social Economy

Social and human capital

Traditional practices

Cultural diversity

Community learning

networks

Local knowledge

Entrepreneurial spirit

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Organization

Promotion

Design Economic

Development

Coordinator

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1980+

Beginning to understand the role of tourism in community development and

specifically poverty reduction

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Income Flows

• Taxes

• Food

• Furnishings

• Outsourcing

• Staff salaries

• Construction

• Management salaries

• Professional services

• Tours

• Guides

• Entry fees

• Transportation

• General merchandise

• Construction

• Handicrafts

• Services

• Taxes

• Food

• Management salaries

• Professional services

• Construction

• Staff salaries

• Outsourcing

• Furnishings

• Taxes

ACCOMMODATION

FORMAL & INFORMAL RETAIL & SERVICES

FOOD & BEVERAGE

EXCURSIONS & TOURS

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Income Flows

Income flows out of the

community

Community and

immediate environs

Income stays in the

community & immediate

environs

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Community Cultural Tourism Planning and Management Klong Khwang Community,

Nakhon Ratchasima Province

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Barriers

Lack of government programs targeted

to the tourism informal sector

Little recognition of the potential of

tourism development by aid

agencies

Lack of education and training

Lack of credit Lack of organization

Relatively poor access to tourism infrastructure and

assets

Lack of market knowledge and

power

Regulations and red tape

Inadequate access to tourism markets

Poor access to areas with high levels of

poverty 23

Measuring the Impacts of Tourism

Contribution to Gross National

Product and employment

created.

Tourism expenditures through direct, indirect and induced expenditure using a multiplier effect approach.

Increases in international

arrivals, length of stay, bed

occupancy & tourism

expenditures

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None of these measures provides a reliable

means of determining the scale of the impact

on the poor.

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2000 +

2000+

Moving towards a Responsible Community Integrated Destination Planning and

Development With an Emphasis on Poverty Reduction

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Changes in Development Policy

Overall approach to economic development

Focus on poverty reduction

Economic development solves

poverty issues through the trickle

down process

Economic growth may not necessarily reduce

poverty

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Pro-Poor Tourism

Refers to interventions that specifically focus on

addressing poverty – which move beyond “trickledown”

theory and generates net benefits for the poor.

Not a specific tourism product or sector, it is an overall

approach designed to unlock opportunities for the poor.

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Principles

Market Orientation

Multi Stakeholder

Value Chain

Pro Poor Focus Community

Benefit Self-Reliance

Community Centric

Enabling Environment

Collaborative Decision-Making

Good Governance

Empowerment Quality control

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Characteristics of the “Poor”

Low incomes and lower levels of consumption

Lack of purchasing power in the market

Generally socially excluded and have minimal access to

social services

Marginalized in the decision making

processes.

Lack marketable skills and have few employment

opportunities.

Lack access to savings and capital

Experience high levels of vulnerability to changes in market

conditions.

. Their condition is sometimes referred to

as “ill-being”.

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International Poverty Reduction Goals

Reduce the number of people living in

extreme poverty

Invest in social development

Public participation in political and economic

life, especially for women

Reduce social inequalities

Sustainable development to ensure

environmental resource loss is

reversed

Facilitate stable economies & good

conditions for an active private sector

Promote well-functioning

governments and bureaucracies

Protect and conserve cultural and natural

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Stakeholder Management

Private sector

Public-sector

Community interests

NGOs

Social enterprises

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Marketing

Public relations

Destination branding

Positioning attractions

Collaterals & social media

Research

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Product Development

Community owned

Private sector

Nonprofits

Public sector

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Product Development Process

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Capacity Building

Individuals

Organizations

Enterprises Leadership

development

Conflict management

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Visitor Services

Accommodation

Food and beverage

Excursion and tours

Retail

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Community Development

Value chain development

Access to capital

Technical services

Market research

Participation approaches

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Value Chain Development

Provides an understanding

of how the tourism value chain operates

Understands what share of tourism expenditures reach different groups

of people and in particular the poor

Identifies interventions for increasing

the income for the poor from

tourism

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Community Destination Planning

Municipal services

Visitor management

Conservation

Design Monitoring

Infrastructure

Carrying capacities

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1975 CED

1980 TOURISM &

POVERTY REDUCTION

2000 COMMUNITY DESTIONATION PLANNING

LESSONS LEARNED

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This is a selected list of lessons learned.

Elaboration on each of these lessons

together with added observations can be

found in the CITU Working Paper on

Responsible Community Integrated

Destination Planning and Development

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PROCESS

• Tourism focused community planning must be part of a larger public-sector policy environment.

• An integrated destination approach is required to deal with the root causes of underdevelopment in a community.

• Multi-stakeholder process.

• Strategic process with a strong vision.

• There is no one community-based planning and development process.

• Each situation demands a somewhat different process.

• Community based tourism is time & resourcing consuming.

• Importance of strategic planning.

• Having full-time assistance in the development & implementation stages is essential.

• Social learning process.

• Importance of natural, cultural and social conservation.

IMPACTS

• Not all benefits can be assessed quantitatively.

• Improving the self worth, image and desirability of the community are important benefits.

• Communities and residents are empowered.

• Need to develop the means to measure the impact of tourism on communities and in particular on poverty reduction and improving the quality of life of residents.

• How to distribute benefits is a constant challenge especially with public and private sector interests working together. The use of cooperatives and social enterprises must be encouraged.

• Concern for carrying capacities has to be paramount in all planning and design.

• Need to balance traditional community life & tourism activities.

ENABLING ENVIRONMENT

• Local and provincial government officials who understand destination planning.

• Good & transparent community leadership.

• Individuals and organizations who have capacity in: community organization, basic tourism, conflict management, strategic thinking processes & skills, marketing, product development and visual thinking & communications.

• Trust among stakeholders.

• Access to good practice examples.

• Seed money for community initiatives.

• Access to reasonably priced credit for SMEs.

• Access to professional design and planning advice. Social work graduates are excellent facilitators.

• The existence of quality standards that are key to ensure destination competiveness.

PRODUCTS & MARKETING

• Communities require access to reliable marketing information.

• Tourism officials and experts ned to work closely with the community to develop good visitor experiences.

• Communities have to be innovative & creative in the experience and memory business.

• All stakeholders need to be aware of the wide range of interpretive techniques that are available to tell local stories.

• Need to be innovative and creative in obtaining the necessary PR and positioning.

• The maintenance of standards is very important.

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Future Steps

• An appreciation of the need for more sophisticated multi-stakeholder approaches

• A much stronger focus on the entire tourism value chain • Much better systems of measurement • How to better understand the more sophisticated and

demanding tourist • How communities can use the new social media to their

benefit • How to use new means of communication both with

communities as well as the tourist • A better understanding of how the private sector in all its

dimensions can be an effective partner in what has largely been seen as a public sector and nonprofit activity.

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Thank You for Your Attention

Arigatou Gozaimasu

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wjtourism@hotmail.com

http://www.walterjamieson.com/

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