Planeta Forum

[planeta]

How can tourism be used to alleviate poverty? -- This question will be reviewed in the Ethical Travel Dialogue conducted online June 13-July 21, 2006.
http://www.planeta.com/ecotravel/tour/etd.html
http://forum.planeta.com/viewforum.php?f=79

REQUEST -- Please keep messages brief, preferably less than three paragraphs or 250 words. If you have a relevant URL, please mention it within hyphens or on a separate line.

Example: The City Parks Gallery -- http://www.flickr.com/groups/cityparks -- is open to anyone with a Flickr account and who wishes to share pictures of urban parks.

REFERENCE

Poverty Alleviation and Tourism
http://www.planeta.com/ecotravel/tour/poverty.html

Communities, Tourism and Poverty Alleviation in Africa
http://forum.planeta.com/viewtopic.php?t=676

[valere]

First I'd like to say how much I respect Tourism Concern's work in tourism and their participation in this forum.

I also have a great deal of time for those working in ProPoor tourism and I suggest that http://www.propoortourism.org.uk site is worth a visit. However, I sometimes wonder if we really understand how and why the tourism industry works.

Yes, over the last 50 years or so, tourism has had an enormous effect on local economies - lots and lots of money has been delivered. Greece (particularily the islands), Turkey, North Africa and Spain, Caribbean and Thailand, Goa and Kerala are just a few destinations that have had enormous tourism bonusses (and, of course, the depradation too).

Tourists came in their millions because tourism entrepreneurs spotted cheap opportunities, took risks and brought clients. The opportunities got less cheap, things got quieter and then back to normal again.

But tourism, now nearly at 1bn a year does look rather an easy river to divert a little trickle, doesn't it whatever the real quality of the product?

Can consultants and optimistic local populations with development money generate tourism with financial, equal-opportunity, or capacity-building opportunities? I wonder. The market always wants top value, big experience - cheap!

Maybe we should be looking at the marketplace getting together a cohesive set of strategies, developing a ready audience, rather than testing individual opportunities in often dispirited destinations.

[xfont]

I just came back from Morocco, presenting in a conference from the WTO on sustainable tourism as a tool for poverty eradication. Most case studies from throughout Africa spoke of large sums being used to develop pilot projects in the most rural, often inaccessible places. At the same time, Morocco has a plan to build 170.000 new beds in coastal resorts in the next three years, and all the concessions except one have gone to foreign developers. I was asked to speak of how hotels can use their supply chains to promote jobs that can contribute to poverty alleviation. You might not like me for having been there, but the thing is that the conference organisers cannot change the practices of the Moroccan government either. The thing is that these large hotels will be built anyhow, and anything we can do to organise local communities to provide the products for these hotels should surely be better than further economic leakages from importing goods. In a survey I just did in Colombia, over 80% of products were national, although the trend is to import more. My job was to help these hotels to develop action plans to create local jobs that contribute to poverty alleviation. In the three days I was there, did I make a difference? I hope I energised some people, and I am still in touch with them.

By the way Egypt is planning 300.000 new beds in the next three years too, while also having a token ecotourism budget using USAID funds. Most of North Africa plans to grow by building all inclusives, if they are perceived to be sufficiently stable politically.

[valere]

Thanks Xavier. Yes the hotels will be built anyway not only do they need staff and supplies but their guests need lots and lots of things the hotels can't deliver and locals can. Tours, meals, souvenirs, performances, experiences these are the things that build local tourism industries. There should be a simple document or system that helps locals do it themselves, limiting the often doubtful benefit of expensive outsiders assistance!

[chinacontact]

If tourism is to help with poverty, governments need the political will to make brave decisions that may not be popular or profitable in the short term, only in long term.

In many developing countries, the arguments for giving out concessions and contracts to foreign developers and foreign workers is that the local population does not have the resources, training, education etc. I suggest that any foreign operators or investors must undertake to support training programs for local communities and guarantee a percentage of skilled jobs and management jobs will eventually go to local people through this training. This has to be in the contract they sign with the government.

This should really be done for any industry, not just tourism but as tourism is such a people's business, it is most important to focus on training up people in locations that mostly rely on tourism dollars.

Roy

[planeta]

A few days ago I had a private chat with a colleague who was disappointed that consultants charge so much and deliver so little.

My question -- how much should consultants, universities, development agencies charge for development work to alleviate poverty? Also, when do we offer our time for free? If it is outrageous to charge $1,000/day for 'pro poor' consulting, do we get any credit for professional volunteering?

Roy's comments about development countries giving out concessions and contracts to foreign developers and foreign workers provides good suggestions, but does not address the fact that most foreign development agency contracts prioritize using labor and supplies from the donor nation.

Contract bids as well as evaluations are rarely posted on the Web in a manner that can easily be found. Consequently, we see work done in repetition. Do we really have to reinvent the wheel every two years in developing 'ecotourism' in Chiapas, China or Ecuador? It happens if we do not leave a better trail of what has been funded and what were the results. We address this further in the Sustainable Tourism Bank Watch
http://www.planeta.com/ecotravel/tour/bankwatch.html
http://forum.planeta.com/viewtopic.php?p=336

It would be good to see more work done in an inexpensive manner. Here's one example. I took part in a one-day workshop in Mexico City. I donated my time and asked that they pay my transportation. The workshop -- http://www.flickr.com/photos/planeta/158475276 -- cost participants 60 pesos each (about $6 U.S.) and reviewed the promise or urban ecotourism and how it connects to rural communities. The event was partially subsidized by USAID, though I doubt there is any mention of it on their website. The good news is that participants loved it and there will be another session next year.

I have always been a fan of Antonio Suarez and Consultoria Balam -- http://www.balam.org.mx -- and their work seems to me an excellent example of how to create tourism jobs in rural communities.

As to hotels and improving the supply chain, this is a critical topic and I would ask Xavier and Valere if they can point us to any online reports. I'm concerned with the notion of "leakage" -- how much money stays in a community compared to profits that leak out through sales to various national and international sources.

[valere]

Thanks for that Ron. It's worth while looking for answers in the WTTC tourism satellite accounts - http://www.wttc.org/frameset2.htm

You highlight the major problem. It absolutely infuriates me when I hear that a bilateral or multilateral development agency is providing x billions to x country for development (particularily tourism) when all of us who know, know that it's just another method of providing our own services and getting a bit more business. Both the EU and the WB designate the source of technical assistance and I'm sorry to say it's usually 'Jobs for the boys' - which doesn't always help our development of the subject. What gets me apoplectic with rage is when our tabloid newspapers accuse foreign dictators of blowing the cash when it's frequently only the last 10% or so that actually dribbles down to the country in question.

However, we all have a problem. My guess is that we aren't going to get anywhere near the MDG's without lots of tourism components. We've got just 9 years to halve poverty. ProPoor tourism must get its act together.

What's the reward for giving it away free, Ron? God knows. I hope!

[Gerhard]

In response to valere´s first post:

[planeta]

Gerhard raises excellent points about the development of rural travel options and ecotourism in Oaxaca, and I would add, most of rural Latin America. There is a lot of enthusiasm and few adequate resources.

Much of this goes back to Valere's point about ownership. Much of the development monies come from outside with a tendency to encourage global solutions to local situations. The result is a massive failure rate which can impoverish communities and leave community members jaded when it comes to dealing with outside development agencies and donors.

I am thinking a lot about the 'gift economy' -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gift_economy -- these days as it is the basis of several Oaxacan institutions, including the tequio and guelaguetza -- http://www.planeta.com/ecotravel/mexico/oaxaca/guelaguetza.html -- in the news this past week as the July event was cancelled for the first time since the 1930s due to political instability.

The best way to avoid the vicious cycle of bad news is to keep an eye on where travelers get information and make sure that online sources are updated and accurate. Government sources continue to tout the event and discussion on the Thorn Tree -- http://tinyurl.com/laqcw -- includes second- and third-hand news that warns of violence (something we have not seen against tourists).

The consequence of these actions in Oaxaca are a diminishing flow of travelers (both nationals and international visitors choose to go elsewhere) and less revenue for rural artisans and community eco lodge owners.

Valere asks what's the reward for giving information away -- a very good question. Much of Planeta.com and the internet is general is based upon principles of the 'gift economy.'

Blogs are radical in form as they come out of the gift economy whereas much today’s journalism comes out of the market economy. Is there a place for both? Certainly.

On the ground, we co-host an annual rural tourism fair that charges exhibitors about $10 (US) for a one-day affair that last year attracted nearly 400 people and generated a ton of media coverage.
http://www.planeta.com/ecotravel/mexico/oaxaca/feriarural2007.html

Background -- I donate my time and we are able to produce the event for a cost of less than $200 (US).

The advantage is that fair provides multiple opportunities for reciprocal information sharing. Travelers learn what options are available and communities learn what travelers are seeking. Otherwise, local service providers wait in their villages or perhaps city office waiting for travelers to stumble by.

For those interested, we provide some tips on creating your own grassroots tourism event.
http://www.planeta.com/ecotravel/mexico/oaxaca/feriax.html

The advantage for Planeta.com is that we continue to improve our relations with multiple stakeholders, we show practical details of how ecotourism can be enjoyed and we receive updated content. I don't mind offering my services when it comes to working with communities and indigenous groups. I offered the Web Seminar free to the Indigenous Tourism Rights International group a few years ago and on deck is work Aboriginal Tourism Australia. It seems outlandish to charge the poor for the opportunity to 'help' them when the better option is simply to 'pay it forward.'

[valere]

Ron, I can't tell you how much I love the idea of a 'Gift Economy', it's the first time I've heard the term and I'm sincerely grateful.

In Bath, we have a barter system baased on our own currency the Bath 'Oliver'. The problem in such a middle class city is that it's dead easy to get marketing services on the system but plumbing (or anything practical) is impossible!

Back to Gerhard's point - to me an absolute essential before any development is even considered (however fantastic it may be going to be) is some serious research and real understanding of a marketplace that actually wants what's going to be put together!