NOTE:This paper was published in an international scientific journal Central Asian Hournal of Innovation on Tourism Management and Finance. Volume: 04 Issue: 03 | 2023 ISSN: 2660-454X
Abstract
Over the years, views on tourism have changed from pleasure seeking activity to a mere economic activity. Today, tourism is the major source of income and economic activity for developing countries. It generates employment, foreign exchange earnings, and also supports in development of infrastructure of the destination. Tourism may also have potential in addressing socio economic issues through sustainable tourism development. Local community participation in tourism activities has also become one of the major principles of sustainable tourism. Tourism is a people oriented industry and its major functions depend on human resources. Tourism is a major source of employment and it has all the capabilities in contributing towards the livelihood of the local community by providing employment and involving them in all kinds of tourism activities. The major objective of the study is to find out how local communities are involved in various activities and practices adopted by resorts for the development of the local community.
Tourism in Rwanda is the largest source of foreign exchange earnings in Rwanda and was projected to grow at a rate of 25% every year from 2013-18. The sector is the biggest contributor to the national export strategy. Total revenue generated from the sector in 2014 alone was USD 305 millions. Tourism in Rwanda is rapidly increasing. The economy is growing with tourism leading the export sector; however communities around tourism sites continue to live in poverty. This paper explored the participation in and contribution of the local population to tourism development. The main objective of the study was to assess community participation in tourism development and its role in poverty reduction among the indigenous people living around tourist destinations in Rwanda. Research in this study was conducted with the help of secondary data.
Related literature was collected from text books, reports from government, NGOs and journal articles available on both Internet and in the university library. The gathered information explains the role of the indigenous people in tourism improvement, the involvement of local communities in tourism development and the different ways in which tourism profit is shared with the host community. The paper discusses barriers and challenges ahead and how to overcome those challenges.
Introduction
Regarding Sustainable Development schemes, many countries have agreed to the goal of creating a sustainable global future. However, this never seems to be an easy task because our values differ by circumstances. For example countries that have a stable economy often focus on protecting the environment and preserving culture; while other countries, which struggle with poverty, tend to put economic development as their top priority and tend to ignore negative impacts on the environment that stem from economic development. Moreover, when we focus on a country and its inhabitants, there is sometimes a huge gap between national strategies/policies and awareness of these strategies and policies by the public. A bottom-up approach is often taken to bridge the gap between national decision making bodies and the public, as well as to build the capability of local people so that they can make appropriate choices when it comes to developing their livelihoods.
Over the decades, tourism has experienced continued growth and deepening diversification to become one of the fastest growing economic sectors in the world. Modern tourism is closely linked to development and encompasses a growing number of new destinations. These dynamics have turned tourism into a key mechanism for socio-economic progress in developing countries as well as Rwanda, tourism can be used as a source to encourage the economic development. Tourism creates better living conditions to the local residents, provides tax revenues to governments, creates new tourism jobs and businesses, and keeps rural residents from moving to overcrowded cities (WTO, 2007).
As tourism becomes increasingly important to communities around the world, the need to develop tourism sustainably also becomes a primary concern. Human communities represent both a primary resource upon which tourism depends, and their existence in a particular place at a particular time may be used to justify the development of tourism itself. Communities are a basic reason for tourists to travel, to experience the way of life and material products of different communities. Communities also shape the ‗natural‘ landscapes which many tourists consume. Communities are, of course, also the source of tourists; tourists are drawn from particular places and social contexts which in themselves will help shape the context of the tourist‘s experience in the host community. Sustaining the community/particular communities has therefore become an essential element of sustainable tourism. The rationale of sustainable tourism development usually rests on the assurance of renewable economic, social and cultural benefits to the community and its environment. An holistic approach to sustainability requires that the continuing/improved social, cultural and economic well-being of human communities is an integral component of environmental renewal. This is equally applicable within notions of sustainable tourism; without community sustainability, tourism development cannot be expected to be sustainable.
For this reason, as Taylor (1995:487) argues, ‗the concept of community involvement in tourism development has moved nearer to the centre of the sustainability debate‘. Tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors in the service Industry. From the international financial context, ten percent of the total revenue in the world economy has been generated from the tourism industry and ten percent of the world‘s workforce has also been generated from the tourism industry. These figures are expected to double by the year 2015, with an anticipated one billion tourists per year. So, tourism has enormous potential to contribute towards the growth of developing countries, particularly for local communities, where wildlife tourism exists (Ashley & Roe, 1998).
