Tourism and Community Development Issues - Tourism and Development: Concepts and Issues - page 203

and restore their environmental and cultural assets and engage visitors on
terms defined by the area's inhabitants. Community tourism is only vali-
dated if the activity evolves as a solution to economic, environmental, social,
educational and cultural growth challenges. It is a process that must yield a
fair exchange of value between the host and the hosted, preserve the com-
munity's sense of place and bring dignity and pride to the host.
Examples
Community tourism often includes walking tours, home and farm
stays, storefront museums, recreational offerings, craft cooperatives, nature
and wildlife treks, cultural performances, dining experiences, lectures on
local culture and history, healing and health services, storytelling and just
about any aspect of community activity that may have value as a visitor
experience. In urban neighborhoods, rural communities and wilderness
areas, community tourism efforts can provide a powerful economic develop-
ment strategy, promote cultural diversity and an understanding of tolerance,
and generate more revenues for local businesses.
Intimacy
Community tourism invites far more intimacy in the relationship
between host and guest than is normally afforded by other tourism business
models. It generally features far more authentic and genuine activity for the guest,
because it is activity that exists for its own sake and is not constructed specifically to
entertain a stranger. It is a community sharing its real culture by the people
who practice it. The very nature of community tourism places boundaries
and limitations on how many visitors can be accommodated so that the
sense of place is not overwhelmed by large-scale tourism, and the ratio
between the local population and the visitor count remains in balance.
Sustainable business model
Community tourism is a more sustainable business model. Current models
often result in creating more problems for a community than they solve, and
can be particularly damaging to the culture, traditions and customs of the
destination and its sense of place.
Community tourism is about maintaining a direct connection between
the host population and the visitor and minimizing the reliance on gate-
keeper systems of sales and marketing strategies that eventually separate the
host from the hosted.
It is about preserving the sense of place of a community by making the
place, not the visitor, the center of care and attention, recognizing this as the
best way to honor the visitor.
By making caring for the place the priority, you also preserve the cus-
toms, traditions, landscapes and history of the people who live there. What
better way to welcome and honor a stranger than to present the community
at its very best.