unit 13: community action in responsible tourism

UNIT 13. COMMUNITY ACTION IN RESPONSIBLE TOURISM

Unit outline

ObjectivesBy the end of the unit participants will be able to:• Describe how to develop responsible tourism products that

are economically viable• Identify methods to safeguard the local community and

environment from negative tourism impacts• Explain the importance of community, government and

private sector participation and support in tourism• Identify opportunities to help create a skilled local tourism

workforce• Describe how to monitor and evaluate environmental and

social impacts of tourism on the community, environment and economy

Topics1. Developing responsible

tourism products that are economically viable

2. Safeguarding the local community & environment

3. Promoting participation and support in tourism

4. Developing a skilled local tourism workforce

5. Community based sustainability impacts monitoring & evaluation

TOPIC 1. DEVELOPING ECONOMICALLY VIABLE RESPONSIBLE TOURISM PRODUCTS


What are economically viable responsible tourism products?

Economically viable RT products are tourism goods and services that are:

Marketable and profitabe Satisfy visitor needs and wants

Conserve and promote the local culture and

environment

Economically viable RT products VS Economically unviable products

Viable Unviable

• Costs of production and operation do not outweigh income (profitable)

• Product features meet the interests and needs of the tourist

• Limited negative impact on the environment

• Limited negative impact on the local culture

• Costs exceed income (no profit)• Product is not of interest to the tourist

(target market)• Product is of interest however features

do not meet visitor’s needs and expectations

• Product harms the natural environment

• Product causes socio-cultural problems in the local community

4 key requirements for economically viable RT products

1. Ensure available market demand

2. Available resources of sufficient quality exist

3. Products are matched to markets

4. Products meet government laws &

regulations

1. Ensuring market demand

• For a tourism product to be economically viable there needs to be:– Size of market– Length of stay and seasonality– Willing to spend– Market trends


Assessing market demand through market research

• Market research can help understand:1. The size of the market: How many people?2. The nature or characteristics of the market: Who

is doing what?3. The value of the market: How much are they

spending?


2 key factors when selecting viable tourism products

Viable RT product

Fills a gap in the

marketplace

Addresses a limitation on

tourism growth


Practical ways to conduct market research

Discussions Observation In-depth research


2. Ensuring available resources of sufficient quality exist

The success or failure of a tourism product depends on a range of factors, most importantly:


Availability

• Potential resources or assets exist and are available for use

Accessibility

• Potential resources can be easily reached by the market

Condition

• Quality of resources will satisfy visitor expectations & standards

Measuring viability through product assessment

Undertaking a product

assessment will help:

Identify available and accessible

tourism products (potential or

existing)

Determine the product quality or

condition for business success


Common types of tourism products


Socio-cultural• Historic buildings / sites• Traditional handicrafts• Folk songs, traditional dances etc

Natural• Beaches• Mountains• Lakes• Plants and animals

Activities & events• Festivals & celebrations• Spiritual ceremonies & events• Sporting competitions

Conducting a product assessment to determine the condition of a

resource

Product assessments help determine the condition or quality of a resource by quantifying:


• Uniqueness & authenticity• Accessibility• Infrastructure

• Supportive conditions• Market attractiveness• Sustainability

Example of a product assessmentProduct: Village homestay experience

Score(1 Poor – 10 Strong)

Weighting(% of 100) Total score

Easily accessible 6 15% 0.90

Quality of nearby attractions 8 4% 0.32

Range of available activities 6 5% 0.30

Existing available services 4 3% 0.12

Authentic product 8 8% 0.64

Distinctiveness of product 8 5% 0.40

Easily accessible target markets 10 10% 1.00

Sufficient target market size 6 8% 0.48

Favourable target market trends 6 5% 0.30

Private sector existence 6 3% 0.18

Supportive regulatory context 10 4% 0.40

Available human resources & infrastructure 8 6% 0.48

Economically sustainable 8 10% 0.80

Environmentally sustainable 10 7% 0.70

Socio-culturally sustainable 8 7% 0.56

TOTAL 112 100% 7.58 10

3. Ensuring products are matched to markets

Tourist satisfaction depends on the ability of the supplier to satisfy customer needs at the right time with the right products; in other words, to match the supply of tourism products with the demand for those products


Requirements for matching products and markets

Matching supply (products) and demand (markets) requires:


A good understandi

ng of consumer

needs

A good understanding of products

& their features

The 3 key steps in matching products and markets


STEP 1• Examine market

segment characteristics

STEP 2• Categorise viable

products

STEP 3• Compare market segment

characteristics to viable products and link

Matching markets and products

PHUOT

INTERNATIONAL TOUR GROUP

INTERNATIONAL BACKPACKER

CASINO

WALKING TRAIL

BEACH

HERBAL PRODUCTS

Why are these markets linked

to these products?

LOCAL FOOD

4. Ensuring products meet government laws & regulations

It is important to ensure products meet government laws and regulations to avoid potential conflicts or restrictions and to gain the support of government to better ensure success.


regulations

Types of regulations and laws that may affect product viability


regulations

Visitor permits Village entrance fees

Business activity restrictions Pricing policies

Government plans may also affect success


regulations

Tourism master plans Development plans

Conservation Plans Land use plans

TOPIC 2. SAFEGUARDING THE LOCAL COMMUNITY & ENVIRONMENT


Potential negative social impacts of poorly planned & managed tourism

Social tension resulting from shifts in domestic

arrangements and gender roles

Commodification of cultures and traditions

Exacerbation of existing social inequalities and creation of

new ones

Cultural conflict Loss of traditional values & skills

Potential negative environmental impacts of poorly planned & managed tourism

Over development Destruction of environment

Disturbance to wildlife

Overconsumption of natural resources Pollution

Potential negative economic impacts of poorly planned & managed tourism

Inadequate sharing of tourism benefits

Tension from wage and income disparities

Increased economic dependency on one sector

Inflated land and housing prices, and living costs Economic leakage

Factors that effect the level of tourism impact

Level of impact

Characteristics of the destination

Characteristics of the tourists

Characteristics of the type of tourism development

Strategies to minimise negative tourism impacts

Policies & strategies Economic, financial & market instruments

Awareness raising and capacity building

Marketing and communication

Employment

Use policies & strategies to minimise negative impacts

Destination management & risk management plans Appropriate local-level policies

Strategic tourism plans Tourism standards & guidelines

Visitor & tour operator codes of conduct Tourism laws to regulate business operation

Use economic, financial & market instrumentsto minimise negative impacts

Sustainable tourism certification Incentives for implementing responsible tourism initiatives

Fees or charges to regulate tourism flows

Voluntary environmental reporting, guidelines / codes of conduct

Use awareness raising & capacity building to minimise negative impacts of tourism

Request local government for training in managing

tourism impacts

Request local tourism authorities to provide

information on tourism best practice examples

Use marketing & communication to minimise negative impacts of tourism

Inform visitors about your sustainability issues and

initiatives

Incorporate sustainability messages into

interpretation of natural & cultural heritage values

Governments highlight sustainable tourism

ventures and destinations in marketing efforts

Use good employment practices to minimise negative impacts of tourism

Promote equal opportunity Provide employment contracts for staff

Pay minimum or higher wages Provide industry accepted employment benefits

Tourist codes of conduct

Are voluntary principles and practices that tourism host communities develop and request tourists to follow in order to limit the negative impacts of tourism activities and enhance the positive impacts

Examples of tourist codes of conduct

• Respect the local culture and traditions• Consider the privacy and practices of the host

community• Buy local goods and services• Do not damage cultural sites and monuments• Do not disturb wildlife and ecosystems• Respect local laws• Others?

A tourist code of conduct in Luang Prabang, Laos

Codes of conduct can also be applied to tourism businesses

• Employ local staff and local guides• Patronise small locally owned businesses• Discourage visitors offering money to beggars• Support local social and environmental projects• Respect local and provincial laws, rules and

regulations affecting business operation• Interpret the environment and culture authentically

and accurately• Others?

TOPIC 3: PROMOTING PARTICIPATION AND SUPPORT IN TOURISM


Importance of participation in tourism

Share the ownership, commitment and responsibility

Maximise support and investment resources

Ensure the market viability

Avoid potential conflicts

Reduce the investment time and related costs

Sustainability

Areas of community participation in tourism

Areas of community

participation

Feasibility studies

Planning and business

development

Tourism operation and management

Benefit sharing

Providing labour

Voluntary work

Leasing of land/ buildings / sites

for a venture

Types of community tourism entitiesForm DescriptionIndividual Business Households

• A ‘household’ can be an individual person or a group of family members• Applicant/s must be Vietnamese citizen/s• Applicant/s must be at least 18 years of age• Applicant/s must have legal capacity• Applicant/s must have capacity to conduct full civil behaviors

Service Groups

• Work on the bases of co-operation • Three or more individuals• Members contribute assets and work together to create jobs and benefits• Based upon mutual responsibility

Management Board

• Operates on the basis of democracy, transparency, and volunteerism• Members elected by the local community• Has an organizational structure, duties, functions and powers (based on voluntary rules identified by the people in accordance with the

law, local customs and practices)• No legal power• Activities rely heavily on funds contributed by the community, especially those directly providing services• Board receives direct support from Local Authorities and Central Agencies• Usually established to carry out a specific task over a defined period of time after which the Board normally moves to become a new

type of organization or is dissolvedCo-operatives • A type of economic organization established to conduct business activities

• Have own assets financed by their sources of working capital contributed by their members (e.g. capital contributions, accumulative capital, and other funding sources)

• Have charter and working regulations, a brand name and logo• Financially self-sufficiet (similar to other types of enterprises)

Private enterprises

• Includes limited liability companies and joint stock companies• Company owners and company are two legally separate entities (the company is a legal entity, and the company owner is the person

with the rights and obligations corresponding to the ownership of the company)• Obtain legal status after being granted business registration certificates• Whilst joint stock companies are allowed to issue public shares, limited liability companies are not

Involvement of 3 key stakeholder groups required for good community based tourism

1. Working with the community 2. Working with the private sector

3. Working with the government

Resolve disputes

Benefit sharing

Enforce on planning, operation and development

Intermediary: Government and Business with Community

Using community management organisations to plan and manage tourism

Form: Related board operating informally

Service providers (homestay, local guide etc)

Security

Head / vice head of village

Commune stakeholders

Women’s union and others

Are service-oriented

Act at the local level

Voluntary contributions

Non profit

Implementing community management organisations

Good representation Capable and engaged

…from the community (opinions, wants, needs etc)

Well-organised, trust systems

Success factors of good community management organisations in tourism

Knowledgeable

Example: Cham Island Community Tourism Groups (CTGs)

Tan Hiep People’s Committee

Hoi An District Government

Quang Nam Department Culture Sport & Tourism

Bai Lang Tourism Management Board

Bai Huong Tourism Management Board

Transport CTG

Accom. CTG Shops / Souvenirs

CTG

Transport CTG

Accom. CTG ToursCTG

Represent 3 villages Represent 1 village

CTG

Chair

V.Chair 1 V.Chair 2..

Members

Example: Nam Dam CBT Management Board

People Committee of Quan Ba Commune

People Committee of Quan Ba District

Nam Dam Community Based Tourism Management Board

Homestay group

Local guide group

Culture performance &

handicrafts group

Transport CUM security group

Community tourism fund

Head of Nam Dam CBT MB

V.Head

Secretery

2 MB members (CUM fund /treasury

management)

Working in co-operatives to deliver tourism services

• A type of economic organisation established to conduct business activities

• Have own assets financed by their sources of working capital contributed by their members

• Have charter and working regulations, a brand name and logo

• Financially self-sufficient

Working with the private sector

• To ensure the right products are developed for the right markets

• To create business cooperation opportunities

• To facilitate the establishment of marketing channels

Other service providers

Working with the private sector through partnerships

Tour operators & travel agencies

Accommodation providers

Provide advice on product opportunities, business operation, and service improvement

Bring tourists to the community

Forms and benefits of partnering with the private sector

Marketing support

Local infrastructure support

Facilities and equipment support

Forms and benefits of partnering with the private sector

Range of support

Provide grants

Encourage dispersion of tourism to local and

regional areas, through infrastructural investment

and marketing

Ensure good policy is followed up with

implementation

Promote local tourism enterprises

and products in marketing material

Revise regulations that impede growth

of small business

Provide training in tourism

occupational skills

Working with government in community based tourism

Work with the government throughout the process

Planning• Commune PPC (admin)• District PPC (licencing)• District Culture and Information

Department / TIC (market advice)• Social policy bank / Bank for

Agriculture & Rural Development (loans and investment opportunities)

• Community Management Board• More?

Development• Social policy bank / Bank for

Agriculture & Rural Development (loans and investment)

• Commune PPC (construction standards)

• Police office (safety and security)• Community Management Board• More?

Operation• Multi-Department Taskforce (police,

tax, tourism)• Commune Security• TIC (marketing support)• Social policy bank / Bank for

Agriculture & Rural Development (loan repayment)

• Community Management Board• More?

TOPIC 5. DEVELOPING A SKILLED LOCAL TOURISM WORKFORCE


Importance of skills training

• Tourism is a highly competitive industry• Sustainable businesses require staff who have good

understanding of how to do their job efficiently, effectively and to an industry accepted standard

• As a result customer satisfaction will be met and repeat visitation and positive word of mouth promotion will result thereby further business

Recognising skill gaps

• All community tourism ventures have jobs that have specific skills required

• In many cases a worker may have skills to complete a job, but it might not be at an industry accepted standard.

• Jobs and skills therefore need to be assessed to ensure workers can complete their jobs to a satisfactory standard.

JOB SKILLS REQUIRED

Conducting a skills gap analysis

SKILLS GAPSKILLS AVAILABLE

Skills training required to fill the gap

Different skills are required at different levels of job position

Cross-Cutting Skills: Environmental & cultural management skills, basic communication skills, leadership skills

Business owner / Operator• Product development

skills• Understanding dynamics

of tourism industry• Understanding legal

issues• Finance and accounting

skills• Monitoring and analysis

skills• Marketing management

and pricing strategies• Marketing and

communication skills

Supervisory level• General management

skills• Understanding of

technical skills (e.g. F&B preparation / service, housekeeping, menu planning etc)

• Monitoring & analysis skills

• Leadership & training skills

• Conflict management & cross-cultural communication

Staff level• Technical skills (e.g.

F&B preparation / service, housekeeping, menu planning etc)

• Guide and interpretation skills

• Good work ethic

Where to find training opportunities to fill skill gaps

Existing skilled workers NGOs Volunteer organisations

Tour operators Formal education and training providers

TOPIC 5. COMMUNITY BASED TOURISM IMPACT MONITORING & EVALUATION


Importance of monitoring & evaluating tourism impacts

Ensures positive impacts are maximised and negative impacts are minimised

Maintains quality standards

Ensures product suited to market

Key steps to developing a community based monitoring programme

1. Plan to monitor

2. Scope key issues

3. Develop indicators

4. Collect data

5. Evaluate results

6. Plan response

7. Communicate results

8. Review objectives &

issues

9. Implement actions

Step 1. Plan to monitor

Gaining the support from the community and being well organised is critical to the success of a tourism impacts monitoring plan

Gain support Set objectives

Resolve practical issues

Step 2. Scope key issues

Social, economic and environmental issues from tourism must be identified and prioritised

Research tourism issues in community

Review and prioritise issues

Agree on final list

Step 3. Develop indicators

• Indicators are the tools used to monitor change

• Indicators may be social, economic or environmental

• Indicators can be developed from key issues (existing or potential)

• E.g. if a key issue is “Incidence of social disturbance”, then the indicator could be “No. of reported complaints about tourists to the authorities per month”

Review existing indicators

Brainstorm new indicators

Select most practical & relevant indicators

Examples of common economic indicators

Employment level

Local employment vs. immigrants ratio

Income level

Spend on community projects from tourism funds

Number and types of local tourism

businesses

Tourism business revenue, profit &

loss levels

Occupancy rates

Examples of common social indicators

Tourism training course

participation

Women in tourism workforce (e.g.

number, income level, roles)

Incidence of negative tourism related

incidents reported to authorities

Number of cultural events

Level of protection of cultural heritage

sites

Level of formal complaints to

authorities about tourism enterprises

Examples of common environmental indicators

Number and types of conservation

projects

Level of pollution in the community and environment

Level of destruction of local natural environment

Environmental conservation

training course participation

Level of natural resource use /

availability

Level of waste management

and treatment

Step 4. Collect data

• Financial records

• Visitation records

• Surveys

Identify data sources

• Surveys• Questio

nnaires

Design data collection methods

• Indicator description

• Indicator survey location

• Indicator value

Design simple database for results

Data sources

Business financial records

Community visitation records Visitor surveys

Stakeholder discussions

Physical assessment & observation

Step 5. Evaluate results

• Benchmarks are quantifiable levels or targets of acceptable change for a chosen indicator

• Benchmarks may already be available (e.g. national or international industry averages)

• Thresholds of change are the point at which an indicator exceeds a set benchmark and may cause damage

Establish benchmarksIdentify thresholds of change

Examples of sustainability indicators and thresholds

TYPE SUSTAINABLE TOURISM INDICATOR RESULT THRESHOLD PERFORMANCE

ENVIRONMEN

T

% of new hotels undertaking environmental impact assessments 33% 90 - 100% V. POOR

% of hotels using sewage treatment 8% 30 - 50% V. POOR

% of tourists participating in nature tourism 8% 20 - 40% V. POOR

% of hotels composting their biodegradable waste 76% 60 - 80% ACCEPTABLE

ECONOM

IC

Contribution of direct tourism businesses to GDP 4% 10 - 20% POOR

Proportion of new businesses focused on tourism 4% 10-20% POOR

Proportion of hotel jobs in rural areas 48% 40 - 60% ACCEPTABLE

SOCIAL

Villages included in tourism awareness programmes 28% 25 - 50% ACCEPTABLE

Proportion of handicraft stalls out of all stalls in markets 21% 20 - 40% ACCEPTABLE

Tourism operators informing visitors of village protocol 72% 50 - 70% GOOD

Step 6. Planning the response

Identify poor performing areas• Which areas

are the most problematic?

Research possible causes• What might

be the reason for their poor performance?

Decide on a response• What can be

done to improve the situation?

Draw up action plan• How will we

implement actions for improvement?

Example of management responses

Source: SNV Asia Pro-Poor Sustainable Tourism Network, SNV Vietnam & the University of Hawaii, School of Travel Industry Management, A Toolkit for Monitoring and Managing Community-based Tourism.

Step 7. Communicate results

• Indicator results need to be communicated to stakeholders because:– It allows the community to

learn from past experiences and to improve their tourism products.

– It helps ensure that tourism generates benefits for the poor.

• Forms of communication will change according to the intended audience

Design communication methods

Publish results

Step 8. Review objectives and issues

• Reviewing objectives and issues is important because:– Situations change– New data may become available– Thresholds may turn out to be

unacceptable

• Based on the results of the review, changes and improvements can be made to the indicators and benchmarks to make them more specific and realistic

• Data collections methods should be reviewed and modified if they turn out not to be practical

Review objectives and issues

Review indicators and data collection

Step 9. Implement actions

• Finally, instigate management responses according to the plan of action!

Take action

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