Pro Poor Tourism (PPT)
Pro Poor strategies are a more holistic development approach requiring that there is a
dependence on all activities to provide some beneficial outcome for the poor (Scheyvens &
Momsen, 2008). Development is not required to follow a particular model, as long as the
needs of the poor are considered as part of each decision making process. This influences
tourism development, via PPT, to follow sustainable tourism and poverty alleviation
guidelines. The holistic nature of PPT allows tourism to grow and produce benefits from
sustainable tourism practices which are not dependent on the development and
maintenance of a single tourism product (Binns & Nel, 2002; Mograbi & Rogerson, 2007;
Rogerson, 2007). Positive impacts can be derived from all developments supporting tourism
in a community.
The limitations of PPT are derived from there being no clear process. Instead, PPT is reliant
on the goodwill of industry stakeholders in considering the poor and their needs as a part of
their business. Traditional tourism industries often involve large numbers of international
companies, who do not answer to local communities in terms of their profit goals and
business styles (Tepelus, 2008). In LDCs in particular, the role of international stakeholders is
so great, financial leakage can exceed 50% of earnings (Lansing & De Vries, 2007; Muhanna,
2007). Even when PPT is identified as a strategy for a community, the diverse and global
stakeholder network is a hindrance to its application.