Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Human Development and Tourism
Human development has received a significant amount of attention in
tourism research, especially in areas like pro-poor tourism (Holden, 2013),
responsible tourism (Smith, 1990), appropriate tourism, ethical tourism and
volunteer tourism (Wearing, 2001). Many of these types of tourism focus on
poverty reduction. Pro-poor tourism, first proposed in a British report in
1999, has since received 'widespread support from development agencies,
donors, governments and various tourism organisations' (Scheyvens, 2012:
124). Rather than being a specific type of tourism, it is an approach or set of
strategies to extend the benefits of tourism to those who are in poverty. Pro-
poor strategies in tourism include job creation and the development of small
to medium-sized enterprises that sell to tourists or the tourism industry;
other livelihood benefits to the poor such as access to potable water and
access to markets, education and health care whose development is linked to
tourism; and opportunities for engagement in decision-making for the poor
to improve their livelihoods by securing better access to tourists and tourism
businesses (Jamieson & Nadkarni, 2009) (see Chapter 4). Volunteer tourism
could be considered to be aligned with the strategies of pro-poor tourism.
Volunteer tourism, first packaged as overseas charity work in the 1990s,
reflects the shift to travel with a humanitarian purpose (Vrasti, 2013) and
applies to tourists who volunteer to 'undertake organised holidays that might
involve aiding or alleviating the material poverty of some groups in society,
the restoration of certain environments or research into aspects of society or
environment' (Wearing, 2001: 1). Promotional materials directed at volunteer
tourists include phrases such as 'giving back to the community', 'making a
difference in the world' and 'travel with a difference' (Vastri, 2013). However,
in a review of the literature on volunteer tourism, Palacios (2010) found there
are a number of cases where the experiences do not encourage critical reflec-
tions on poverty, foreign interests are prioritised over local ones and the send-
ing organisations and volunteers receive more benefits than those who are
'voluntoured'.
Tourism has links to civil society, social capital, culture and transnational
social movements through NGOs. 'NGOs prioritize tourist development
approaches that are inclusive of indigenous and/or host communities, and
involve ethics of care for nature' (Wearing
et al.
, 2005). Kennedy and Dornon
(2009) found that tourism-oriented NGOs were using tourism as a tool for
poverty reduction and they have become increasingly relevant as an alterna-
tive and legitimate source of aid in many developing countries. Many NGOs
based in developed countries partnered with developing world NGOs and
communities in order to create locally initiated solutions to poverty, generat-
ing financial and non-financial benefits. Kennedy and Dornon (2009: 197-
198) suggest that the NGOS are able to work with 'the poorest rural and
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