Community-based and responsible tourism

Themes : Alternative forms of entrepreneurship, production and consumption

Tourism provides a vital source of income for many developing countries, yet economic success often comes at the expense of the environment and local populations. Mass tourism threatens biodiversity, damages ecosystems and causes violations of the rights of workers, minorities and local communities. Corporations, rather than local people reap the financial rewards.

Local communities and social entrepreneurs all over the developing world are setting up community-based tourism projects. They are using tourism as a complementary source of income to improve their standard of living, create decent jobs and preserve their culture and environment. They offer a huge variety of cultural and eco-toursim activities and all the income is redistributed among community members or invested in community projects. It is a fair, transparent tourism that truly benefits local populations and provides experience-rich eco-holidays to responsible travellers.

One publication

One video

A pedagogical tool

5 case studies

4 Analyses/working papers/articles

4 articles