Tourism and Poverty Reduction - Tourism and Development: Concepts and Issues - page 129

vulnerable are not being exploited. A growing number of NGOs send volun-
teers to work on development projects around the world. The way to distin-
guish commercial volunteer-sending organisations from the NGOs is that the
latter usually aim to do a combination of assisting people who live in pov-
erty, raising awareness of voluntourists about global inequalities, building
relationships between people in different parts of the world, and stimulating
action towards social justice in Western countries (Scheyvens, 2011: 98-99).
Many NGOs now work directly with communities, assisting them to
develop alternative livelihood strategies which can help them to protect the
integrity of their natural resources and culture while also bringing in a source
of income. They can be distinguished from a smaller group of NGOs, such
as Oxfam Caribbean, which see it as strategic to also work at the national or
regional level to influence the frameworks and institutions which shape pos-
sibilities for development of sustainable livelihoods at the grass-roots level.
At a local development level, Oxfam Caribbean works effectively with
both government and the private sector to build linkages between tourism
and agriculture which enhance livelihood outcomes for local people (Meyer,
2007). In 2003, Oxfam established a Market Access Initiative (MAI) which
aimed to 'increase the power of small-scale rural farmers through advocacy
and lobbying for the implementation of a positive policy framework which
creates an enabling environment' (Scott, 2008: 2). Oxfam then provided sup-
port in terms of production, marketing and purchasing. For example, a mar-
keting company was set up by Oxfam Caribbean to foster cooperation and
communication between the tourism and agriculture sectors. To encourage
hotels to purchase from local farmers, incentives are being developed, includ-
ing accreditation of hotels that buy locally, marketing material about the
scheme to be used for hotel promotion, and tax benefits for those that con-
tribute to poverty reducing objectives (Meyer, 2007: 576-579). In addition,
Oxfam has supported four farmer cooperatives so farmers can pool their
resources, market their produce effectively and negotiate with hotels (Ashley
et al. , 2006: 3).
At a higher level, Oxfam provides advice on the policy framework at the
national level and has been involved in efforts to influence Caribbean trade
policy at the regional level. For example, they worked with the Caribbean
Policy Development Centre which lobbies against unfavourable trade regula-
tions at the regional and international levels (Scott, 2008).
Corporate social responsibility in tourism
In recent years, there has been a determined and rapid shift to support
CSR in the tourism industry:
In the mid-1990s. . .its [the tourism industry's] focus on issues of busi-
ness ethics, social development and human rights was seen as rather