International Institute for Environment and Development 
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| International Institute for Environment and Development |
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Tourism Research Themes
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Tourism and Poverty Tourism is an increasing phenomenon in developing countries. As such, it affects the livelihoods of many of the world’s poor. However, to date, its potential for poverty reduction has generally not been recognised and/or exploited by developing country governments and development assistance agencies. In most cases it has generally been viewed as an engine for economic growth rather than as a mechanism for delivering on poverty reduction. Many argue that because tourism is often driven by foreign, private sector interests, it is not well placed to contribute much to poverty elimination. Indeed, tourism can disadvantage the poor causing displacement, increased local costs, loss of access to resources and social and cultural disruption. Tourism is not a panacea for economic development and in any context decisions about whether or not tourism, domestic or international, presents viable opportunities for local economic development need to be made locally in the context of the other opportunities that exist for local pro-poor development. Development through tourism faces many of the generic constraints confronting other economic sectors - tax, regulatory obstacles, FDI confidence etc. However, work on pro-poor tourism has identified several reasons why tourism seems to be particularly relevant to poverty reduction and to achieving the Millennium Development Goals: Many of the countries in which tourism is an important economic sector are among the poorest and least developed in the world. Tourism is significant for the vast majority of the countries with the highest numbers of people living below the international poverty line of US$ 1 per day. In 2000 tourism ranked third among the major merchandise export sectors of developing countries – including the Least Developed Countries. Tourism can be one of the only viable sources of growth or export earnings in some countries or regions with few development options. Tourists are often attracted to remote areas because of their comparative advantage in terms of high cultural, wildlife and landscape values. Projects: Copyright © 2005 International Institute for Environment and Development. |
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