Pro-Poor Tourism - Expanding Opportunities for the PoorIntroduction

Reducing poverty requires pro-poor growth. Tourism, one of the worlds largest industries, is already growing or significant in most poor countries. Certain characteristics of tourism enhance its pro-poor potential. It can be: labour intensive; inclusive of women and the informal sector; based on natural and cultural assets of the poor; and suitable for poor areas. Harnessing tourism for pro-poor growth means capitalizing on these features, while reducing negative impacts on the poor.

Tourism is a massive and growing industry already affecting millions of the poor, so a marginal improvement could generate substantial benefits. Also, tourism has advantages over other sectors in relation to poverty reduction. Tourism is a very diverse industry which increases the scope for wide participation (e.g. informal sector). In tourism, the customer comes to the product, offering opportunities to make additional sales (linkages). Tourism is more labour-intensive than many other sectors, such as manufacturing, and employs a higher proportion of women. Tourism products can be built on natural and cultural resources which are often some of the few assets that the poor have. Tourism may have potential in countries and areas which have few other competitive exports. Poverty reduction through PPT can therefore be significant at a local or district level.

Pro-Poor tourism is set up in developing countries as a means to improve the local economy for local people. It enhances the linkages between tourism businesses and poor people, so that poverty is reduced and poor people are able to participate more effectively in tourism development. The aims of pro-poor ranges from increasing local employment to involving local people in the decision making process. Any type of company can be involved such as a small lodge or a tour operator. The most important factor is not the type of company or the type of tourism, but that poor people receive an increase in the net benefits from tourism.

Pro-Poor Tourism (PPT) is tourism that results in increased net benefits for poor people. It enhances the linkages between tourism businesses and poor people, so that tourism's contribution to poverty reduction is increased and poor people are able to participate more effectively in product development. Links with many different types of 'the poor' need to be considered: staff, neighbouring communities, land-holders, producers of food, fuel and other suppliers, operators of micro tourism businesses, craft-makers, other users of tourism infrastructure (roads) and resources (water) etc. There are many types of pro poor tourism strategies, ranging from increasing local employment to building mechanisms for consultation. Any type of company can be involved in pro-poor tourism - a small lodge, an urban hotel, a tour operator, an infrastructure developer. The critical factor is not the type of company or the type of tourism, but that an increase in the net benefits that go to poor people can be demonstrated.

PPT can be defined as tourism which provides net benefits for poor people. PPT is not a specific tourism product or sector. It is not the same as eco-tourism or community-based tourism, although these forms of tourism can be pro-poor; i.e. they can bring net benefits to the poor. Pro-poor tourism is an approach to tourism that increases net benefits to the poor. It is not a new kind of tourism product but merely to ensure that the poorer section of the community too will have their portion of the tourism economic pie. Generally, pro-poor tourism is still a relatively new phenomenon, although certain elements of pro-poor tourism may be observed in some of the tourism developments. Pro-poor tourism will result in pro- poor growth which will decrease inequality and the increasing gap between the rich and poor.

Opportunities for Pro-Poor Tourism

The flavour of a destination is a function of the natural environment and the culture of the people who live, and have lived there. The living culture of the people, the opportunity to engage with local people who live and work in the destinations is an important part of the travel and holiday experience for many tourists.

Benefits of pro-poor tourism may be economic, but they may also be social, environmental or cultural. Pro-poor tourism is not a specific product or sector of tourism, but an approach to the industry. Strategies for making tourism pro-poor focus specifically on unlocking opportunities for the poor within tourism, rather than expanding the overall size of the sector. Three core activities are needed: increasing access of the poor to economic benefits (by expanding business and employment opportunities for the poor, providing training so they are in a position to take up these opportunities and spreading income beyond individual earners to the wider community); addressing the negative social and environmental impacts often associated with tourism (such as lost access to land, coastal areas and other resources and social disruption or exploitation); and policy/process reform (by creating a policy and planning framework that removes some of the barriers to the poor, by promoting participation of the poor in planning an decision-making processes surrounding tourism, and by encouraging partnerships between the private sector and poor people in developing new tourism products.

Role of agencies in PPT

Government, the private sector, non-governmental organisations, community organisations and the poor themselves all have critical and very different roles to play in PPT. The private sector can be directly involved in pro-poor partnerships. At a minimum, private operators should participate in product and market development to ensure commercial realism. There is much that only governments can do, so a leading role for government in PPT is a great advantage. At a minimum, there needs to be a policy environment that facilitates PPT. The poor themselves are critical to PPT, but they often also need to be organised at the community level in order to engage effectively in tourism. It is often invaluable to have a fourth party to catalyse and support PPT efforts of others this is often, though not always, a role for a non-governmental organisation. Donors, through their role in supporting tourism plans, and the sustainable tourism agenda, can also promote PPT.

Pro-poor Tourism Issues

1 PPT is not addressed in most formal development plan.2 Planning process carried out using top down approach and local participation is superficial 3 Planning process is fragmented and sector based

4 Problems associated with implementation

5 Limited business opportunities

6 Lack of capacity building & training.8 Negligible Business Partnerships

Principles underlying PPT

A balanced approach - Pro-poor strategies need to be complemented by the development of wider tourism infrastructure. A balanced approach is critical if competitive products, transport systems or marketing do not exist, the industry will decline and so will any pro-poor strategy;

Universal application - Pro-poor principles apply to any tourism segment, though specific strategies will vary between, for example, mass tourism and wildlife tourism;

Focus on expanding benefits - not just minimizing costs to the poor; Draw on lessons from other sectors (such as small enterprise, good governance, and poverty analysis) and apply these to tourism;

Do not expect all the poor to benefit equally - particularly the poorest 20 per cent. Some will lose;

Participation poor people must participate in tourism decisions if their livelihood priorities are to be reflected in the way tourism is developed. A holistic livelihoods approach the range of livelihood concerns of the poor economic, social, and environmental, short-term and long-term need to be recognised. Focusing simply on cash or jobs is inadequate. Distribution promoting PPT requires some analysis of the distribution of both benefits and costs and how to influence it. Flexibility blue-print approaches are unlikely to maximize benefits to the poor. The pace or scale of development may need to be adapted; appropriate strategies and positive impacts will take time to develop; situations are widely divergent. Commercial realism ways to enhance impacts on the poor within the constraints of commercial viability need to be sought. Learning as much is untested, learning from experience is essential. PPT also needs to draw on lessons from poverty analysis, environmental management, good governance and small enterprise development. Learn by doing the effectiveness of pro-poor strategies is not proven, but we won't know what can be done to reduce poverty through tourism until more concerted efforts are made.

Benefits of PPT

A wide range of strategies are required to capitalize the benefits of tourism for the poor. Efforts are needed in capacity building, training, access to financial funds, marketing, linkages with the private sector, and also policy and regulation which are pro-poor. This requires working across different levels and stakeholders comprising of the government, private sector, non-governmental organizations, community organizations and the poor themselves, all having very different and critical roles to play.

Strategies for pro- poor tourism can be divided into those that generated three different types of local benefit: economic benefits, other livelihood benefits (such as physical, social or cultural improvements), and less tangible benefits of participation and involvement. Each of these can be further disaggregated into specific types of strategies.

Strategies focused on economic benefits include:

Expansion of employment and local wages: via commitments to local jobs, training up locals for employment

Expansion of business opportunities for the poor. These may be businesses/entrepreneurs that sell inputs such as food, fuel, or building materials to tourism operations. Or they may be businesses that offer products directly to tourists, such as guiding, crafts, tea shops etc. Support can vary from marketing and technical support (e.g. by nearby mainstream operators), to shifts in procurement strategy, or direct financial and training inputs.

Development of collective community income. This may be from equity dividends, lease fee, revenue share, or donations, usually established in partnership with tourism operators or government institutions.

In general, staff wages are a massive boost to those few that get them, small earnings help many more to make ends meet, and collective income can benefit the majority, but can often be misused. Thus all three types are important for reaching different poor families. Strategies to create these benefits need to tackle many obstacles to economic participation, including lack of skills, low understanding of tourism, poor product quality and limited market access.

Strategies to enhance other (non-cash) livelihood benefits generally focus on:

Capacity building, training and empowerment

Mitigation of the environmental impact of tourism on the poor and management of competing demands for access to natural resources between tourism and local people

Address competing use of natural resources

Improved social and cultural impacts of tourism

Improved access to services and infrastructure: health care, radio access, security, water supplies, transport.

Such strategies can often begin by reducing negative impacts such as cultural intrusion, or lost access to land or coast. But more can be done to then address these issues positively, in consultation with the poor. Opportunities to increase local access to services and infrastructure often arise when these are being developed for the needs of tourists, but with some consultation and adaptation could also serve the needs of residents. Strategies for capacity-building may be directly linked to creating boosting cash income, but may also be of more long-term indirect value, such as building management capacity of local institutions.

Strategies focused on less tangible benefits of participation and involvement can create:

More supportive policy and planning framework that enables participation by the poor

Increased participation by the poor in decision-making: i.e. ensuring that local people are consulted and have a say in tourism decision making by government and the private sector

Pro-poor partnerships with the private sector

At the minimum: increased flow of information and communication: meetings, report backs, sharing news and plans. This is not participation but lays the basis for further dialogue.

Implementing these strategies may involve lobbying for policy reform, involving the poor in local planning initiatives, amplifying their voice through producer associations, and developing formal and informal links between the poor and private operators. Following table summarizes this typology of PPT strategies

Increase economic benefitsEnhance non-financiallivelihood impactsEnhance participation and involvement

1. Boost local employment,

wages2. Boost local enterprise

opportunities3. Create collective income sources fees, revenue shares 1. Capacity building, training2. Mitigate environmental impacts3. Address competing use of natural resources4. Improve social, cultural impacts5. Increase local access to infrastructure and services 1. Create more supportive policy/planning framework2. Increase participation of the poor in decision-making3. Build pro-poor partnerships with private sector4. Increase flows of information, communication

PPT Strategies1. Put poverty issues on the tourism agenda

A first step is to recognise that enhancing poverty impacts of tourism is different from commercial, environmental, or ethical concerns. PPT can be incorporated as an additional objective, but this requires pro-active and strategic intervention.

2. Enhance economic opportunities and a wide range of impacts

Incorporate wider concerns of the poor into decision making. Reducing competition for natural resources, minimizing trade-offs with other livelihood activities, using tourism to create physical infrastructure that benefits the poor and addressing cultural disruption will often be particularly important

3. A multi-level approach

Pro-poor interventions can and should be taken at three different levels:

Destination level this is where pro-active practical partnerships can be developed between operators, residents, NGOs, and local authorities, to maximize benefits.

National policy level policy reform may be needed on a range of tourism issues (planning, licensing, training) and non-tourism issues (land tenure, business incentives, infrastructure, land-use planning). International level to encourage responsible consumer and business behaviour, and to enhance commercial codes of conduct.

4. Work through partnerships, including business

National and local governments, private enterprises, industry associations, NGOs, community organizations, consumers, and donors all have a role to play. Changing the attitudes of tourists is also essential if PPT is to be commercially viable and sustainable.

5. Incorporate PPT approaches into mainstream tourism

PPT strategies are dependent on the health of the overall industry, so need to be complemented by more conventional support, such as in infrastructure development and marketing. While avoiding marginalizing PPT, it is also important to assess which tourism segments are particularly relevant to the poor. For example, domestic tourists are important customers, they should not be neglected.

6. Reform decision-making systemsThe most important step is to enhance participation by the poor in decision-making process. Systems are needed that allow local livelihood priorities to influence tourism development. Three different ways of doing this can be identified: Strengthen rights at local level, so that local people have market power and make their own decisions over developments.

Develop more participatory planning.

Use planning gain and other incentives to encourage private investors to enhance local benefits.

These approaches require implementation capacity among governmental and non-governmental institutions within the destination, and also require a supportive national policy framework.Conclusion

PPT is not a specific product or sector of tourism, but an overall approach. Rather than aiming to expand the size of the sector, PPT strategies aim to unlock opportunities for economic gain, other livelihood benefits, or engagement in decision-making for the poor. Pro-poor tourism has the potential of benefiting the poor, decreasing inequality and narrowing the gap between the rich and poor. This is especially relevant in a country like India where previous initiatives have minimal impact on poverty reduction and new approaches are required especially in eradicating urban poverty. -----------------------