Community-based tourism projects (CBT) have, along with other integrated conservation and
development schemes, gained popularity over the last three decades. These relatively recent
methods of development are based on a participatory approach and ultimately emerged as a
result of the failure of “top-down” approaches to both conservation and development which had
been widely practised by both conservation and development organisations. Although such
community-based projects varied in their methodologies, the common thread between them was
in their linking environmental conservation and socio-economic development, most notably in
and around protected areas. They work on the premise that in order for conservation and
development projects to succeed local communities must be active participants and direct
beneficiaries4
.
Whilst such community-based tourism schemes have been widely adopted, many under the
guise of ecotourism, their success (or otherwise) is something which has not been greatly
researched. Indeed, there has been limited research into the effectiveness of using tourism to
deliver economic development and conservation objectives. Moreover, there does not appear to
be any data available on what criteria, factors or indicators are, or can be, used to determine the
success of such projects or, indeed, what characteristics such projects share which could be used
to inform decision makers in establishing future projects.
Recognising that the conservation of protected areas could not be achieved without the support
of local communities conservation organisations have seen Community-Based Natural Resource
Management as a significant part of conservation strategies since the 1970’s. Zebu & Bush in
1990 produced clear survey evidence that national parks included engagement with local
communities in their management strategies. Their survey revealed that tourism formed part of
the management strategies in 75% of those national parks which returned data.5
Integrated Conservation and Development Projects (ICDPs) were the predominant form of the
early initiatives. The ICDPs sought to use nature tourism to provide funds for protected area
management and to generate income gains for local communities. In 1992 Wells & Brandon
reviewed ICDPs and reported that the results had been disappointing, it was unusual for any
additional revenues from tourism to be made available to local management, revenues were
remitted to national treasuries; that it was “extremely rare for a revenue share to go to local
communities”; and that local employment opportunities linked to tourism were “insufficient to
attract much local popular support for the parks.”6
The lack of evidence of beneficial impacts did
not dent the enthusiasm of funders and practitioners.
This period of optimism about the contribution of tourism to conservation and community
development saw the rise of two forms of alternative tourism: ecotourism and community-based
tourism (CBT) which were seen as superior alternatives to mainstream mass tourism. Wheeller
put it most eloquently:
“The traveller is preferred to the tourist, the individual to the group, specialist operators
rather than large firms, indigenous accommodation to multinational hotel chains, small
not large – essentially good versus bad … Perhaps the true situation is best expressed as
the good guise versus the bad guys…”7