Value chain approaches to assessing the impact of tourism on low-income households in developing countries

Abstract

This paper examines two issues: the emergence of pro-poor tourism as an idea and how the impacts of tourism on local communities around developing world tourist destinations can be measured. Pro-poor tourism was initially conceived in the period 1999–2000 at the conceptual and policy level. More recently, the critical knowledge gap has been found to be that of having reliable evidence to support policy development and action. This paper describes and justifies an action research approach to value chain analysis which allows researchers to “trace the tourism dollar” in developing country tourist destinations. The approach also supports the identification of opportunities to enhance positive tourism impacts on the poor and explains how to develop a shortlist of feasible high impact interventions. Poverty is defined, and a conceptual framework for understanding the linkages between the tourist sector and the local economy is outlined. Value chain analysis is also defined and seven key reasons are given for its use. Field experience with this approach in 12 different developing country destinations is shown to be an empirical basis for suggesting that the methodology is conceptually robust and a practical way of alleviating poverty, allowing researchers and the industry to work together effectively.