benefits of budget tourism
Tourism and Development
The World Tourism Orgnaisation (WTO), the UK's Department for International Development (DFID) and Overseas Development Institute (ODI), and the UN's Economic and Social Committee for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) have each identified the potential for tourism to be used to help alleviate poverty. The WTO have gone further by suggesting that sustainable alternative tourism rather than mass tourism can eliminate poverty, while in the UK ODI and DFID have developed "Pro-Poor Tourism".
According to the WTO there are 7 basic approaches to ensuring that tourism benefits the poor
- Employ the poor in tourism projects
- Allow the poor to supply goods and services to tourist projects
- Allow the poor direct access to the tourists to sell directly
- Facilitate the poor in setting up tourist projects
- Tourism taxation to specifically benefit the poor
- Encourage tourists to voluntarily assist the poor
- Government to invest in basic infrastructure to develop tourism and the poor at the same time
Pro-poor tourism
All too often local people are denied any significant opportunity to participate in the tourism market. Tourists are not accessible to the local community when they are within their hotels, coaches, and safari vehicles or inside sites and attractions such as museums. These are all enclave forms of tourism, where those wishing to sell to tourists are often reduced to hawking at the enclave entry and exit points. Cruise ships passengers and tourists on "all inclusive" packages are particularly difficult for local entrepreneurs to access. Tourism needs to be organised in ways that enable local people to have better access to tourists."Harold Goodwin. Source: WTO (Abuja) 2002b
Pro-poor tourism (PPT), like sustainable tourism is not a specific product; it is a way of working. While eco-tourism focuses primarily on the environment, PPT focuses on generating net benefits for the poor. PPT neither creates new tourism nor promotes tourism activities, it simply asks the tourism industry whether their policies and procedures can be adapted to benefit the poor.
PPT has created three broad strategies to help the industry target poverty alleviation.
1 Increased economic benefits through increased local employment by creating opportunities for local enterprises to participate in the market. This will lead to an increased number of people receiving a wage.
2 Create a feeling of empowerment through participation, communication, consultation, and partnership. This increase in self-esteem will develop confidence and self worth and will give a voice to the voiceless
3 Improving the occupational and environmental training and capacity building for the community. This is intended to provide the necessary skills to do a job of work and provide the inspiration for individuals to spot gaps in the market and develop their own entrepreneurial businesses
Source: Ashley.C., Roe. D., Goodwin. H., (2001)
Economic Development
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There is a perception that the independent traveller brings little revenue to the communities they visit, but this is not necessarily the case
| Low spend but long duration. |
This is not rocket science, the longer you stay in a country the more you will spend. Approx 70% of tourists stay 7 days or less, with 30% staying 7 to 28 days (2001) with an average spend per trip of $1200 (£650-700) Any independent traveller will spend that over 4 weeks because they will be doing a greater variety of activities. |
| Where money is spent | Because of the adventurous nature of travellers that will travel to areas off the usual tourist track and so the benefits of their spending is over a wider geographical area and and more likely to be in economically depressed regions. |
| Goods and services | Because the independent traveller is less interested in luxury, they are more likely to spend their money on locally produced good and services and stay in local accommodation |
| Cross section of the community | The independent traveller is likely to spread their purchase at a greater variety of establishments and even individuals with little capital or training can provide goods and services |
| Less Investment needed | The independent traveller, because of their nature and the time that they have are less bothered about the poor infrastructure and this often adds to their perception of adventure. Lack of electricity and running water are challenges that are tolerated more by the independent traveller thus little investment is needed to start of some projects |
| Multiplier effect | There is a significant multiplier effect from employing local goods and services, the money is injected in the economy will be spent many times before it is dissipated |
Non economic benefits
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| Enterprises | Because enterprises can be small ownership and control can be kept local. |
| Self-fulfillment | Local people can gain satisfaction through running their own tourist enterprises rather than working in less satisfying jobs or not working at all. |
| Collectives | Small enterprises can join together to create collectives and work together for promotion, training and self empowerment |
| Social interaction | Independent travellers normally have time to spend getting to know the local people and understanding their cultures and swapping stories and information in an environment of equality. |
| Challenges foreign domination | Having locals challenge the foreign dominated establishments can only be a good thing |
| Eco-footprint | Independent travellers use fewer resources, they are less likely to have their own transport, less in need of air-conditioning, hot baths etc |
LTT and our tours and volunteering opportunities
We employ the services of locally owned and run contractors to provide us with safaris and cultural tours.
All our guides are locals and we encourage our guests to stay in guest houses and home-stays and eat in local restaurants.
We use combination of local and private transport, using private transport only where deemed necessary for safety or safari requirements.
We are seeking to set up an accommodation centre that will be located within the community, employ the services of the local community, purchase goods and services therein, we will not serve any imported foods or drinks. The hotel will serve as a training centre for the hospitality trade, offering valuable experience to those wanting to develop careers in this area.
We encourage local people to selling their goods to the tourists
Through the close interaction wit the volunteers the community will have the opportunity to sell their knowldge, skills and services to the "volunteer experience", and we will encourage a diverse range of opportunities
We will we encouraging our guests to interact with the poor community, sharing ideas and learning from each other as equals
Reduce leakages by purchasing goods and services locally
Our tourism packages will generate funds that will be used to help community development projects.