Search results

The purpose of this study is to analyse the importance of rural communities’ participation in the management of tourism development.

A case study was conducted at the Katse and Mohale Tourism Development Area of Lesotho. This study was conducted in three villages adjacent to the Ts’ehlanyane Nature Reserve: Ha ‘Mali, Bokong Nature Reserve; Ha Lejone and Liphofung Nature Reserve; and Phelandaba using a mixed method design. In-depth interviews were conducted with Conservation Committee Forum members, and a survey was conducted on various stakeholders that included local rural communities, local authorities, nature reserve managers, tourism officers and environmental/conservation officers.

Respondents from all three villages (Ha Lejone, Ha ‘Mali and Phelandaba) shared the same preference of greater community involvement and decision-making power in the management of tourism. Ha ‘Mali and Ha Lejone respondents recognised community members’ participation but the Phelandaba respondents generally disagreed that the communities were involved in management, as they indicated not being consulted in any planning about tourism.

This study concluded that governments should not merely set aside conservation areas or construct tourist destinations in rural areas but should also empower local communities to participate in all stages of planning, developing and managing the tourism venture. Involving community members in the formulation of supporting tourism regulations, implementation, monitoring and evaluation procedures would be beneficial for sustainable development of rural tourism. Building partnership amongst all tourism-related stakeholders in rural tourism management is an ideal tool for promoting rural tourism.

Although the case study specifically referred to KMTD, the information gathered was used to formulate a model of the elements influencing rural tourism benefit-sharing processes from the perspective of a rural local community.

Riverston, Sri Lanka, is famous for its natural and cultural significance. The tourism industry is emerging there and expanding with more community engagement. Riverston being a community-based tourism site, this study aimed at discovering the perception of the Riverston community on tourism development further focusing on the market opportunities, challenges, and strategies for the way forward. Data were collected from the Riverston area community who engage in tourism through in-depth interviews with semi-structured questions, and the sample was selected based on the purposive sampling technique. Data were analyzed through content analysis. The findings disclosed that challenging the authentic culture, traditional livelihood shifting toward tourism, lack of awareness and knowledge of the tourism industry among the community, the impact of legal restrictions on the community, and lack of education are the sociocultural challenges for the community on tourism development. The Riverston area is getting developed in terms of infrastructure with tourism development, and that benefits the living conditions of the community. Further, results indicated forest conversation policies had impacted the community’s living in high magnitude. It persuades people to move away from agriculture to the tourism sector. In addition, the timely need for a well-planned sustainable tourism approach and awareness from ground-level tourism practitioners was underscored by the data set.

This chapter investigates the concept and relationship between community pride, involvement, and participation needs in the sustainable tourism development. The study will also try to find out how local communities are involved in various activities and practices for the development of the sustainable tourism. Local community participation in tourism activities has become one of the major principles of sustainable tourism. As tourism is a people-oriented industry, its major functions depend on human resources. A significant number of communities depend on tourism as a primary source of income. Tourism contributes to the growth of a community because it creates a lot of jobs in the various industries associated with tourism.

This study aims to elucidate the process and internal mechanism of place identity construction in traditional villages under the impact of tourism by taking Cuandixia village as a case. The research methods comprise participatory observation and in-depth interviews with the residents. The main results are as follows: the impact of tourism on traditional villages is mainly reflected in space reconstruction, livelihood change, social relations restructuring and culture change; under the impact of tourism, the representation of residents’ identity construction shows complexity, with positive and negative effects; and the place identity construction of residents affects their perception of and attitudes toward tourism. Moreover, self-esteem and self-efficacy principles play a key role in their perception of tourism. This study provides some reference for further investigation of the tourism development model and the mental mechanism of residents in traditional villages.

The purpose of this chapter is to present survey findings on the important contributions by civil society groups and organizations involved in tourism in Kenya. This seeks to make them more understood and make a case for their involvement in efforts towards revival of tourism post COVID-19. The research objectives are to investigate contributions of these groups to tourism in Kenya as well as investigate challenges they face. The methodology used is largely qualitative whereby a survey of key informants was carried out. This allowed the researcher to be familiarized with the issues at hand. A semi-structured interview guide was developed that was pretested with four key informants. Key informants included a wide variety of stakeholders in tourism including tour guides, small restaurants owners, travel agency owners, farmers, local chiefs, women, and youth groups. Findings show the contributions of these groups including provisions of unique experiences for tourists as well as challenges experienced including poor road network. The conclusion shows that even as government and other stakeholders engage them post COVID-19, they need to pay attention to their challenges and support them so that they can make greater contributions in the sector.

This chapter explores methodological aspects of designing a qualitative multi-case research study to examine the issues of citizen participation, new democratic forms of planning, and community tourism planning. The study discussed below took place during the months of June 2007–March 2008 in three North American communities – two in the United States and one in Canada. The purposes of the study were to compare and contrast the current practices of citizen involvement in community tourism planning with the framework of deliberative democracy, to expand the literature on tourism planning, and to contribute to the development of a model of participatory community tourism planning to be adopted by communities and planners pursuing tourism as a development tool. This chapter focuses on methodological intricacies of designing a qualitative multi-case research study, those wishing to explore the project more are referred to Grybovych (2008).

Tourism and community development are two complementary variables. There are many studies in the literature examining the effects of tourism on society. However, the number of studies focussing on the subject from the perspective of overtourism is still very limited. Although a shrinking in tourism demand is estimated for the next few years due to Covid-19, it is expected that the sector will face an even more intense tourist boom around the world after this health crisis. Therefore, the phenomenon of overtourism remains important. In this context, a conceptual examination was made in the current chapter regarding the observed and possible effects of tourism density on communities. The existing literature clearly shows that being successful in the long term is impossible with a tourism plan that uses natural resources, infrastructure facilities and traditional values of the region to create tourist demand but ignores the wishes and well-being of the community residents.

Sustainable development may best be achieved by enhancing the commitment of local communities. Stewart and Hams (1991) argue that the requirements of sustainable development cannot merely be imposed but that active participation by local communities is needed. However, the terms ‘community’, ‘host community’ and ‘participation’ can be interpreted in a myriad of ways. Before entering a full discussion of host community participation in tourism planning, it is first necessary to explore the various potential interpretations of these terms and to define their meaning and function. This chapter therefore clarifies some of the issues surrounding the terms community, host, host community and participation. The major typologies and available models in relation to host communities’ participation in sustainable planning for tourism are also reviewed.

Towns and cities across Canada face rapidly changing economic circumstances and many are turning to a variety of strategies, including tourism, to provide stability in their communities. Community Economic Development (CED) has become an accepted form of economic development, with recognition that such planning benefits from a more holistic approach and community participation. However, much of why particular strategies are chosen, what process the community undertakes to implement those choices and how success is measured is not fully understood. Furthermore, CED lacks a developed theoretical basis from which to examine these questions. By investigating communities that have chosen to develop their tourism potential through the use of murals, these various themes can be explored. There are three purposes to this research: (1) to acquire an understanding of the “how” and the “why” behind the adoption and diffusion of mural-based tourism as a CED strategy in rural communities; (2) to contribute to the emerging theory of CED by linking together theories of rural geography, rural change and sustainability, and rural tourism; and (3) to contribute to the development of a framework for evaluating the potential and success of tourism development within a CED process.

Two levels of data collection and analysis were employed in this research. Initially, a survey of Canadian provincial tourism guides was conducted to determine the number of communities in Canada that market themselves as having a mural-based tourism attraction (N=32). A survey was sent to these communities, resulting in 31 responses suitable for descriptive statistical analysis, using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). A case study analysis of the 6 Saskatchewan communities was conducted through in-depth, in person interviews with 40 participants. These interviews were subsequently analyzed utilizing a combined Grounded Theory (GT) and Content Analysis approach.

The surveys indicated that mural development spread within a relatively short time period across Canada from Chemainus, British Columbia. Although tourism is often the reason behind mural development, increasing community spirit and beautification were also cited. This research demonstrates that the reasons this choice is made and the successful outcome of that choice is often dependent upon factors related to community size, proximity to larger populations and the economic (re)stability of existing industry. Analysis also determined that theories of institutional thickness, governance, embeddedness and conceptualizations of leadership provide a body of literature that offers an opportunity to theorize the process and outcomes of CED in rural places while at the same time aiding our understanding of the relationship between tourism and its possible contribution to rural sustainability within a Canadian context. Finally, this research revealed that both the CED process undertaken and the measurement of success are dependent upon the desired outcomes of mural development. Furthermore, particular attributes of rural places play a critical role in how CED is understood, defined and carried out, and how successes, both tangible and intangible, are measured.

The objective of this study is to make a conceptual analysis of Community-based tourism (CBT). CBT, one of the tourism activities that internalised sustainability, has several common threads with nature-based tourism activities. However, these similarities/common elements must be more understandable between those relevant tourism activities. From this fact, this research aims to assign a theoretical framework for CBT and reveal the differences between CBT activities from other tourism types.

Tourism, unavoidably, is one of the critical sectors that require sustainable usage of resources. Because visiting natural, historical and cultural values/attractions constitute the primary reason for tourists' travel motivations, making those values/attractions sustainable for the future is essential. However, the sustainable usage of those values/attractions can be enabled with protection and maintenance balance. On the other hand, this philosophy will only come true if obtaining the locals support it. Therefore, CBT propounds that local people should make the most of tourism at all levels, especially the economic contribution. Within this context, the importance and necessity of these issues will be manifested in this chapter, presenting a conceptual framework. Additionally, this chapter will support other researchers in constituting the conceptual framework and will guide policymakers and other stakeholders to understand the importance of CBT.