Investigating the intersection between sustainable tourism and community-based tourism

Abstract

This paper interrogates the intersection between sustainable tourism and community-based tourism (CBT). It is a conceptual paper that unpacks the conceptualization of tourism and traces the emergence of sustainable tourism as one of the responses to conventional/mass tourism. The history of conventional tourism shows that, like any form of tourism, it has both positive and negative impacts on destinations. It is against this backdrop that CBT emerged. To achieve its aim, this article examined the main principles and attributes of CBT in CBT manuals and handbooks, focusing on two key concepts - sustainability and the environment. This examination revealed a significant mismatch in the conception of sustainability, while it is a fundamental requirement in tourism to tackle its negative environmental impacts. Environmental sustainability is considered more implicit in CBT, while it is often less regarded in conventional/mass tourism. We argue that the sustainability of tourism should be an intrinsic and universal principle of all forms of tourism that governments should enforce. The fact that conventional tourism produces most of the environmental damage, it is for this reason that it should elevate its role to become a solid promoter of sustainable measures for environmentally-friendly and sustainability-friendly practices instead.