Critical Success Factors for Creating Community-Based Tourism

Current Issues in Tourism, 2018

A spectrum of operational, structural, and cultural conditions leads to the successorfailureofcommunity-basedtourism(CBT)initiatives.Knowledge of these factors is crucial in the design, evaluation, and monitoring of CBT. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to identify the factors that facilitate and inhibitCBTinthenaturalareasofdevelopingcountries.Adirectedcontent analysis of 68 case studies from literature identified 25 external and 32 internal factors. Based on the 77 factors obtained, a methodology to evaluate CBT initiatives is proposed that can serve as a framework to (1) evaluate initiatives in terms of their feasibility for CBT, current performance, and issues to be solved by management; (2) compare the performance of various initiatives; (3) prioritize factors for the success of CBT; and (4) statistically analyse the relationships among factors. The paper concludes that although several previous studies identified success factors and barriers for CBT, surprisingly little work has been published to create a universal framework to evaluate CBT initiatives. Further research is suggested to explore the statistical relationships among the factors and to define the relative importance of each factor in the success or failure of CBT initiatives.

"Since the development of community-based tourism (CBT) governments, development agencies and NGOs have placed considerable emphasis on this development model. However, CBT has been strongly criticized with respect to low economic impact in terms of jobs and income, the result of small-scale interventions, its low life expectancy after external funding ends, the monopolisation of benefits by local elites, or the lack of business skills to make it operational. This article explores the viability of the CBT model to support socio-economic development and poverty alleviation via a Nicaraguan case study. The characteristics and effects of different modes of organising community tourism were examined, based on an impact assessment and lifecycle analysis of the CBT Nicaraguan Network. The results showed how traditional top-down CBT, created and fully funded by external organisations, reflected the general criticisms of the approach, while bottom-up CBT, borne as a result of a local initiative, demonstrated longer life expectancy, faster growth, and more positive impacts on the local economy. The findings suggest a shift is required in the attention of donors and policy-makers towards redistribution policies that strengthen the skills, resources, and conditions of micro, community-based and family entrepreneurship, together with a stronger orientation towards the domestic markets. Keywords: development; impacts; life cycle; community-based tourism; pro-poor tourism; Nicaragua The attached file is a proof version only. For the final authoritative version please check with the journal website."

Tourism Management, 2008

Tourism is simultaneously portrayed as a destroyer of culture, undermining social norms and economies, degrading social structures, stripping communities of individuality; and as a saviour of the poor and disadvantaged, providing opportunities and economic benefits, promoting social exchange and enhancing livelihoods. The aim of this paper is to introduce, define and examine the concept of Community Benefit Tourism Initiatives (CBTIs) and identify the range of characteristics that contribute to creating the best possible scenario for a successful, sustainable and responsible CBTI. The paper considers the roles of key stakeholders in CBTIs: government, the private sector, non-governmental organizations and communities. It seeks to identify the critical components of CBTI development, the potential problems associated with CBTIs and some of their possible solutions.

Key elements of success and barriers in community based tourism Abstract Community based tourism (CBT) has often been cited as an alternative to mass tourism and an approach for tourism to become more sustainable. If developed well, CBT can become a poverty alleviation mechanism and a way to access improvements in quality of life, providing empowerment and greater economic benefit to individuals in local communities. Despite the plethora of literature on CBT and evaluation of models, there is little analysis of the facilitators and barriers to achieving it. Through the use of case studies in both academic and grey literature, this paper serves as an instructive review of the CBT literature to synthesise the key elements of success and the challenges.

1994

This series of Research Discussion Papers is intended to present preliminary, new, or topical information and ideas for discussion and debate. The contents are not necessarily the final views or firm positions of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism. Comments and feedback will be welcomed.

This article tries to analyse the pitfalls when it comes to supporting locally driven or community based tourism development. It relates this (idealistic) development objective promoted by NGO's and donor communities to the larger context of recent global trends in the trade of services and the principles of community based development. Though recent industry development in tourism is paying more attention to local actors and impacts at the destination level, it is argued that structural causes of uneven and unequal development will dampen any potential positive impacts related to poverty alleviation in developing countries. After reviewing the external and internal conditions that are required for assuring a real locally driven development, we have come to the conclusion that these will not be present in developing countries. Thus, the promise of poverty reduction through community based tourism will rarely be met. Moreover, taking into account the negative environmental and social impacts related to tourism development, one should ask oneself if it should be promoted at all. However, we have addressed some conditions that contribute to achieving successful CBTD in developing countries.

Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 2014

This paper investigates the role of tourism in rural development specifically with reference to community-based tourism (CBT) as a rural community development approach. A case study method is to unpack a CBT development project in which the influence of international actors is pronounced. Participant observation was used for data collection including reviewing of literature. This paper shows the trajectory of a CBT project being compromised by the influence of international capital within a neo-liberal framework. A major contribution of this paper is the proposition of a CBT model that articulates and delineates the role of external players and the ingredients of a potentially viable CBT project. These ingredients include: convenience to community, primacy of local culture, bottom-up structures, autonomy, self-governance, the promotion of community cohesion, respect for and preservation of the environment, enhancement of the health and educational well-being of communities.