Emily McIntyre Katie Vivian Michelle Ramalho Where Do We Go From Here? Community Focused Tourism Development And The Possibility for Change In Today’s Tourism Industry Emily McIntyre Katie Vivian Michelle Ramalho

Agenda Introduction Sustainability and Community Based Tourism Case Study: Operation Wallacea, Indonesia Stakeholder Involvement and Participation Group Activity: Island Tourism Collaboration and Partnerships Benefits & Obstacles of Community Based Tourism Recommendations for the Future Concluding Thoughts

Introduction:Key Terms Community Based Tourism: ‘Centers on the involvement of the host community in planning and maintaining tourism development in order to create a more sustainable industry’ (Hall, 1996). Community Development: ‘Building active and sustainable communities based on social justice and mutual respect’ (Gilcrest, 2003).

Sustainability and Community Based Tourism WHO? Local community members, tourism operators and government officials All stages of development HOW? Empower, educate and ensure equal opportunity WHY? Balance socio-cultural, economic and ecological realms Critically analyze current tourism trends Discussion: What role do you think sustainability plays in local residents’ lives? Consider the following quote “…how can someone whose children are without food be expected to care about elephants?” (Sharpley & Roberts, 2004).

Case Study: Operation Wallacea, Indonesia Volunteer Tourism is the work of an individual(s) in a destination area during their vacation to accomplish a non-remunerative activity (Singh and Singh, 2004) Education Radio Announcements Work with Non-profit FORKANI Environmental and Cultural preservation Initiatives to spread the income

Host Attitudinal/Behavioural Responses to Tourist Activity (Bjorklund and Philbrick, 1972)

Stakeholder Involvement and Participation Community participation Local control Stakeholder involvement Indigenous systems are often more sustainable (Sharpley and Telfer, 2002) Harmonize with cultural traditions Community cohesion and cooperation

Group Activity Destination Profile: Small island developing state in the South Pacific Tourism is a new economic opportunity Discussion Groups: 1. Local community 2. Government 3. Operators

Community Conflicts and the Soloman Islands (Sofield, 1996) Adverse socio-cultural impacts Issues over land ownership (traditional vs. modern notions) Resort development on an uninhabited island caused significant problems Provoked domestic political tension Loss of Investor confidence

Collaboration and Partnerships Lack of coordination in developing countries Collaborative effort is necessary for success in developing tourism Private, Public and Government Agencies Co-management as a solution to share resources (Plummer and Fitzgibbon, 2004) Collaboration under Sustainable Development

Partnerships (Bramwell and Lane, 2000) Benefits -Range of stakeholders involved for change and improvements  -Democracy  -Social acceptance  -Coordination of policies  - Importance of non-economic issues  -Pooling of resources  -Non-tourism activities may be encouraged Barriers -Limited tradition of stakeholders participating in policy making -Difficult for equal representation  -Healthy conflict may be stifled  -Collaborative efforts may be under-resourced   -May block innovation  -Costly & time consuming  

Community Based Tourism Obstacles Social Structure: Gender roles, power and politics Possibilities for diversification: Social, economic and environmental Advantages Emphasis on locality: Participation, control etc. Improvements to: Infrastructure, awareness etc. Discussion: Based on the arguments for both sides of ‘the issues of partnerships and community based tourism’, which elements from each side do you think should be included to ensure effective development’ in host destinations?

Recommendations for the Future 1) Alternatives & Differentiation in Tourism 2) Collaboration and partnerships 3) Continual monitoring and management

Concluding Thought… Based on the issues presented here today, do you think that tourism development has the capacity to change?

References Bjorklund, E.M. and Philbrick, A.K. (1972). Spatial configurations of mental process. Unpublished paper, Department of Geography, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario. Blackstock, K. (2005). A Critical Look as Community Based Tourism. Community Development Journal, 40 (4), 39-48. Bramwell, B. and Lane, B. (2000). Tourism Collaboration and Partnerships: Politics, Practice and Sustainability. Great Britain: Biddles Ltd. Manyara, J. & Jones, E. (2007). Community-based Tourism Enterprises development in Kenya: An Exploration of Their Potential as Avenues of Poverty Reduction. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 15 (6), 628-644. Plummer, R. and Fitzgibbon, J. (2004). Co-Management of Natural Resources: A Proposed Framework. Environmental Management 33 (6), 876-885.

References Cont’d. Sharpley, R. and Telfer, D. (2002). Tourism and Development: Concepts and Issues. Clevedon: Channel View Publications. Sharpley, R. and Roberts, L. (2004) Rural tourism – 10 years on. International Journal of Tourism Research 6, 119-124. Shunnaq, W., Schwab, W. & Reid, M. (2008). Community Development Using a Sustainable Tourism Strategy: A Case Study of the Jordan River Valley Touristway. International Journal of Tourism Research, 10 1-14. Singh, S., and Singh, T. V. (2004). Volunteer tourism: New pilgrimages to the Himalayas. In T. V. Singh (Ed.), New horizons of tourism: Strange experiences and stranger practices (pp. 181-194). Wallingford, UK: CAB International. Sofield, T. (1996). ‘Anuha Island resort: a case study of failure’, in Butler, R. and Hinch, T. (eds) Tourism and Indigenous People, London: Thomson Learning. Yiping, L. (2004). Exploring Community Tourism in China: The Case of Nanshan Cultural Tourism Zone. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 12 (3), 175-190.