Abstract
Many developing countries have recognized the potential of their natural resources for the development of tourism. However, the policies designed to provide a framework for socially inclusive and ecologically sound tourism turn out to be weak in fostering community-based tourism (CBT). There is a spectrum of conditions that lead to success or failure of CBT initiatives that should be accounted for by national policies to ensure meaningful community engagement. This paper proposes a framework for the evaluation of tourism policy documents based on factors that facilitate and constrain CBT in developing countries. The framework was applied to seven tourism policy documents in Colombia using a content analysis approach. The results showed that the policies are weak in providing a base for community engagement in CBT. International experiences indicate that the barriers to CBT are similar throughout the world; thus, the framework is useful in the evaluation of policy documents in other developing countries.
Highlights
Tourism in developing countries has been seen as an industry that can provide much-needed economic benefits in rural and remote areas to communities that lack knowledge and financial resources to take part in tourism development without external support
In contrast to a descriptive examination of policy documents’ content, it was believed that the real issues and enabling factors encountered by communities while implementing community-based tourism (CBT) will serve as a more adequate source for the design of evaluation criteria
The factors with the highest percentage of occurrence are the ones that policy documents should address as they are the major obstacles or facilitators in CBT development and management
Summary
Tourism in developing countries has been seen as an industry that can provide much-needed economic benefits in rural and remote areas to communities that lack knowledge and financial resources to take part in tourism development without external support. New development paradigms created under the umbrella of sustainability introduced principles that support and encourage self-help, self-reliance, and empowerment of communities. When sustainable tourism was introduced as a new global standard to replace conventional tourism, many countries designed policies that reflected this shift. Concepts such as community participation, empowerment, transparency, fairness, equity, and equality were integrated into national regulations and development strategies [1]. These principles are not met purely by a simple statement in a policy document. In many instances, the policies, plans, or programs do not provide a sufficient basis for meaningful community involvement [2]
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