Tourism strategy for poverty reduction
Vipula WANIGASEKERA
Caroline Ashley, Harold Goodwin and Dilys Roe through their work on
Pro-Poor Tourism Strategies (PPT) shed some light on the need to ensure
passing of tourism benefits to peripherals and to the masses which
obviously is the political interest of any Government of the day.
Although vertical integration that takes place in a natural business
environment enables growth and sustainability of tourism in general, it
could be perceived as cartels that control the market and prices in
general. Unfortunately the statistics do not show the real indirect
benefits to the nation that need to be projected to assist policy
making.
The research carried out in South Africa, Namibia, Uganda, Nepal, St.
Lucia and Ecuador deals with the subject of pro-poor tourism (PPT) that
generates net benefits for the poor. PPT is an overall approach, rather
than aiming to expand the size of the sector. This approach is to unlock
opportunities hitherto not seen and exploited.
As Sri Lanka has entered a new era and tourism has already started
taking off, the subject is relevant at a time the authorities
contemplate on product development particularly areas that have opened
up for tourism. A vital part of product development is for economic
gains to enhance the livelihood of the poor in the areas earmarked for
development.
Tourism that is on a development path is expected to increase
employment and reduce poverty. To achieve this in a true sense, the
guidelines would identify the characteristics, one of which is labour
intensive scale inclusive of women and the involvement of informal
sector tourism thus harnessing tourism for pro-poor growth.
The previous case studies show in some countries that pro poor
tourism strategies have not helped generating new opportunities and
benefits for the poor. When this happens tourism will not seem so
valuable to the people and so to the politicians. The public support for
the industry will gradually diminish.
Easier said than done, so one may ask how such strategies are
implemented to please all stakeholders including the informal sectors.
The first step is said to be that those involved in planning tourism -
policy makers, planners, businesses, consultants incorporate pro-poor
concerns at all levels.
Theoretically it is explained as 'bottom-up social mobilization to
top-down investment packaging.' Pro poor tourism thus goes beyond
community tourism. It calls for diversity of actions, from planning,
policy making, product and development, marketing.
The driving force of this understanding of the need to serve the
poor, begins from the planning stage with the involvement of
stakeholders, particularly when developing new locations and products
and integrating them into the mainstream of tourism activities.
The private sector naturally demands business viability of any
tourism venture in terms of the demand, product quality, service
standards and skills. The customer orientation is a pre-requisite for
business sustainability that forces them to meet certain business
standards.
Private sector will therefore expect State support to harness social
needs through various encouragements and incentives. For instance
external funding may be required to cover the costs of partnerships and
developing skills in rural areas.
Unless the youth in the areas of development are skilled , it will
not be possible for them to be engaged when the products are ready for
operations. This is similar to Safaris that are organized with equity
share with neighbouring experts thus bringing in high percentage of
local staff and supports culturally-based local attractions.
ILO Director-General Juan Somavia - through his work Reducing poverty
through tourism also raises some valuable points. It touches on '
Barriers to tourism benefiting poor people' with examples. Apart from
low literacy and poor job skills, the gender norms affect the women from
working in the tourism sector. This must be overcome through education.
The lack of finance, micro credit, or loan facilities to set up
enterprises as well as seasonal variations may affect smaller business.
In addition many poor communities may live remote from places where
tourism flourishes and they lose the access to the products to do any
business.
Indirect employment can be made possible if the area is
simultaneously developed as a tourism village not only with supply
units, shops but also entertainment. They require technical advice,
support and particularly understanding of the tourism industry and a
marketing drive.
The quality of food produced in nearby areas may not be suitable for
tourists. This is a concern of hoteliers. Another point is that
communities may be unaware of tourist expectations which is partly
caused by lack of language skills.
Somavia's recommendations include a) Encouraging dispersion of
tourism to poor areas, through infrastructural investment and marketing,
b) Revising regulations that impede the poor in employment or small
business, and support small business more generally and c) Consulting
with residents when making decisions about tourism in their areas.
Some developing countries have the problem of admitting that the
country is in the developing stage. In tourism activities for instance,
the visitors would be more than happy to engage themselves in an
activity that would help the poor as part of their holiday. They return
with the pleasant feeling that they have done something worthwhile in
the country while having a holiday. |