Conclusion: Tourism and Development - Tourism and Development: Concepts and Issues - page 458

are the ones often cited to support tourism development. The other issues
covered in this part of the topic include tourism and poverty reduction;
regional development; community development; socio-cultural development;
heritage and development; and the environment. While there is little doubt
that tourism has various potentially beneficial economic impacts which may
positively influence the process of economic development in a destination,
the magnitude of these economic benefits can be highly variable. As indi-
cated in Chapter 3, factors such as the level of economic development in the
host country or region, its diversification, the propensity to import, avail-
ability of resources and rates of leakage can all mitigate the economic benefits
of tourism. In addition, it is often the developed economies that can earn
more per visitor. The assertion that tourism development projects in develop-
ing countries can contribute to the establishment of a new world order
through reducing the gap between developed and less developed countries
often overlooks these mitigating factors. This questions the convergence in
economic tourism growth, which is the basis of decreasing the gap between
developing and developed nations. Key questions in terms of the economic
contribution of tourism include: what are the impacts of tourism on eco-
nomic development in terms of economic convergence ? What is the impact
on the balance of payments, inflation/deflation and employment ? Can a
valuation be placed on environmental goods ?
Poverty reduction, which is the focus of Chapter 4, has come to the fore-
front of the development agenda; the aim of the UN Millennium Develop-
ment Goals is to 'eradicate extreme poverty and hunger'. That the shift to
poverty reduction has been incorporated into tourism is evident by the grow-
ing literature on pro-poor tourism (PPT). Chapter 4 examines a range of
initiatives including UNWTO 'ST-EP' (Sustainable Tourism - Eliminating
Poverty), Fair Trade in Tourism and corporate social responsibility (CSR) as
adopted in the private sector. A central concept to pro-poor tourism is that
it is not a particular type of tourism but, rather, an approach that can be
applied to all forms of tourism. Therefore, ways need to be found to make
not only small-scale projects more pro-poor but also large-scale tourism
development projects or mass tourism more pro-poor. The chapter presents
a range of pro-poor strategies that not only provide economic benefits but
also other benefits that will contribute to the local community. There are
some significant questions that need to be asked, including whether pro-poor
tourism may be similarly criticised as green-washing is in the context of
sustainable tourism. What are the barriers to implementing pro-poor tour-
ism ? Will an industry whose objective is profitability undertake pro-poor
initiatives that become institutionalised over time, that are not just part of
a short-term CSR project ? What pro-poor strategies have the potential for
working the best and in what situations ? What role can the government play
in establishing the framework for pro-poor tourism ? While pro-poor tourism
is typically aimed at developing countries, should a pro-poor tourism