Clarification of Community Based Tourism
Updated: Oct 7, 2021
Extracts from a post by Peter Richards, who provided such valuable training to our Trainers of Trainers along with Potjana Suansri, defining the purpose and possible misconceptions about Community Based Tourism.
Many tour operators continue to misunderstand that Community Based Tourism is a kind of CSR, (corporate social responsibility) or charity activity
This misunderstanding leads tour operators to overlook the commercial potential of CBT as a genuinely fun, experiential tourism product which they can offer their guests as a simply better choice than normal sightseeing village visits
CBT is not a charity activity, or a good, token example of a company's commitment to CSR
CBT (done well) is a type of tourism product, which has been carefully designed to be a fun, cross-cultural experience, while at the same time creating benefits for community members and the environment
The only way that our industry will scale up the sales of CBT, and scale up the benefits which CBT can create is by seeing CBT as a good, responsible product choice...
Good customer feedback and positive benefits for people and planet are reason enough to promote more CBT experiences to more diverse markets
#CommunityBasedTourism #PeterRichards #responsibletourism #SustainableTourism