Issue 9 February - May 2002

What is Community Based Tourism?
A whole plethora of definitions and contentions have been given to this tourism subsection. Community Based Tourism (CBT) can broadly be defined as that form of tourism in which a significant number of people within a community are involved in providing services to tourists and the tourism industry, and in which those community members have meaningful access to ownership, power and participation in the various tourism and related enterprise/opportunities. A CBT initiative is generally accepted to be one that offers some form of benefits to community members not directly involved in the tourism enterprise, such as increased access to education, improved healthcare and infrastructure. This broad definition of CBT may be compared to one that refers to Natural Resource Based Community Tourism (NRBCT). The latter ia a direct subset of CBT. NRBCT may be defined as that form of tourism activity that uses natural resources as the means by which local communities can become involved in economic and entrepreneurial development. ‘Natural resources’ in this regard, includes cultural and social resources. The definition of CBT may not be fully understood until a common understanding of what a ‘community’ is with regards to CBT. It is accepted that in CBT, a community is a group of people bound together by social and economic relations, based on shared interests. Communities will consist of a diverse set of people with varied socio-economic interests and capabilities, sharing an interest in nature conservation and living within a legally or traditionally defined geographic area.

What is the nature and extent of Community Based Tourism in Southern Africa?
Community based tourism is referred to by different names in different parts of the region. These include Community Tourism, Community Based Natural Resources Management (NBNRM), Community Development Tourism, Village Tourism, Cultural Tourism, Ecotourism and even Responsible Tourism.

On the ground, CBT includes community-wide companies, co-operatives or trusts; communities working with commercial natural resource based companies (with or without formal or written agreements); governments—private sector—community partnerships; NGO—community partnerships; district councils and a whole host of other combinations.

Whatever the name or structure, the distinguishing feature of CBT is that it refers to local-level, tourist related economic activities largely based on nature or culture and owned/run by residents of a given area. Another prevalent feature is that CBT is ecologically based. This does not always mean that it is ecologically sound. Ecological soundness is thus one of the major challenges facing the communities as the sustainability of the product will, in the long run, depend on how responsibly managed the product has been. The community faces three main interdependent features:

• It must not deplete or degrade the resources on which it is based
• It must pay in regard to local needs and improve local welfare (social, economic) which means fulfilling the ambitions and expectations of all interests of the community
• It must consider and deliver visitor satisfaction.

As a result of a recent study commissioned by the Regional Tourism Organisation of Southern Africa (RETOSA) and funded by USAID—RAPID, a comprehensive directory of natural resource based community tourism products in Southern Africa was produced. The directory presents summary details of the sites natural resources and activities and contacts of 120 community based tourism products that could be captured in ten of the fourteen SADC countries.

What are the objectives of Community Based Tourism in the SADC region?
The main goals behind the efforts to promote CBT are:

• The empowerment of communities to take more control over their own lives
• Poverty alleviation.

Within the tourism industry, this means that communities must:

• Be granted and assume more control and responsibility over the assets they occupy
• Become more involved in areas such as management and development of tourism related activities
• Have greater influence over conservation/ preservation matters within their community area
• Have greater access to capacity building resources such as capital and human resources, and management skills.

The achievement of these main goals of community empowerment and poverty alleviation can be broken down into lesser but contributory objectives. These lesser objectives of CBT can be summarised under the following headings:

• Societal and Political Goals
• Environmental Goals
• Economic Development Goals

Societal and political objectives:

• This refers to the creation of a sense of purpose among disadvantaged communities
Many rural communities feel that they have no real alternatives available to them in their efforts at making a better life for themselves and their families. They rarely consider that they have a contribution to make to the development of their national economy. The best they can often hope for is just to be able to get a job in the towns and cities. Few will be in a position to get a secondary education and still fewer will go to college or university. Life in the remote villages can lack purpose as most economic activity is limited to subsistence level farming, hunting or craftwork. Opportunity seldom presents itself, and even if they do, there are no means available to take advantage of them.
In a correctly structured community development tourism enterprise, many opportunities come to these villages and communities. The income generated can lead to improved education as well as health and infrastructural improvements. Employment opportunities in servicing the tourists’ needs in cooking, laundry, guiding, cultural activities, etc become available. Where the community feels ownership of the product, its commitment will be greater, ensuring a satisfying experience for the tourist.

• Development of human resources
In bringing increased economic and tourist activity to the local communities, a need is created for many skills in these areas. Management skills are sometimes brought in from outside as the community may not have those skills readily available (due to migrations to the centers of employment). However, other skills such as bookkeeping, secretarial and administration, will be needed and can be sourced locally.
In the development of human resources there exists an opportunity to bring more women into the employment field by ensuring that they have the chance to gain from this increased economic activity. Specific attention is paid to social equality and ensuring that women are presented at all levels of decision making within the enterprise.

• Maximisation of social benefits and infrastructural development (education, healthcare, literacy, and quality of life)
The profits generated by the enterprise are available to the community for distribution in accordance with agreed structures. This takes the form of total distribution in the form of cash to each household, investment of all profits in infrastructural development, or any variation in between. While distribution in the form of cash can lead to the speedy dissipation of the benefits, it also contributes to community empowerment and poverty alleviation in the short-term. At the other end of the scale, investment of the total amount in infrastructure brings greater benefits to the community in the long-term, but little or no immediate effect on individuals.
Many social deprivations require immediate access to funds for food, medicines, etc. These necessary expenditures are often considered when discussing the distribution of profits from the enterprise. As part of the development of the tourism facility itself through lodges, serviced campsites, etc, basic facilities such as roads, communications, electricity, water supplies, sewerage and sanitation will be required. These also benefit the local communities and improve their quality of life and health. It is important in some circumstances however to recognise that the basic attractions of the site are not compromised by the introduction of these facilities. At times tourists visit a particular place precisely because it is very remote and undeveloped, so a balance must be struck.

• Preservation of historical and cultural traditions and beliefs
Through cultural tourism, there is now an economic incentive to retain and pass on the cultural heritage and traditions of each community and ethnic group. From a national and international perspective, it is hoped that this will serve to educate and generate a respect for each other’s cultures and beliefs. It will also assist in fostering and reinforcing a sense of pride and strength in ethnic origin amongst the community.

Environmental objectives

• This refers to the increased awareness of environmental issues, conservation of scarce resources, both in fauna and flora
In almost all instances, rural-based community development tourism has nature as its backbone and provides for photographic safaris, hiking, river safaris, etc. As a result of this, it is apparent to the community that there is definable economic benefit in taking care of the environment. This will necessarily increase the community’s awareness of their surroundings and give them greater determination for its conservation. This is not something that just happen and; assistance is required from both government bodies and outside agencies in developing such awareness.
By increasing environmental awareness, one ensures increased protection of the environment in the present, for the future, through a local commitment to sustainable eco-friendly development. Local communities learn to increase their wealth and well being “sustainably”. Many guidelines and regulations exist to ensure sustainability for future generations, but unfortunately they are often not used or enforced properly.

Economic development objectives

• Maximising economic and infrastructural development in the locality:
There are as many forms of participation by communities in tourism activities as there are reasons for choosing a particular type of activity. It can be seen therefore that, as in any business ownership model, compromises and trade-offs are inevitable. Neither the community nor the environment nor the traveler can have everything. What is important is that the model in use brings in the maximum economic and developmental returns available to the community, without threatening the long-term viability or development potential of the enterprise.

• Employment creation:
This is in order that the community as a whole retains a feeling of ownership in the enterprise, and that the benefits are enjoyed by the many rather than the few. This is achieved by employing local people wherever possible and practical, and by ensuring that women are granted a fair share of all the positions available and not just in the service-oriented, menial tasks. Tourism creates many areas for employment, and not just in directly related areas. It is estimated that for each job in mainstream tourism, downstream activities create up to 4 additional jobs.
The introduction of tourism activities into a community’s economic life in no way spells the demise or reduction in importance of traditional farming, crafts, hunting or husbandry activities. In reality, while tourism brings in additional income, it also brings new opportunities for the more traditional livelihoods. New markets are created, both for old enterprises and new businesses. Tourists need to eat, and they invariably prefer to eat locally produced meat and vegetables, with fruit, yogurts, etc. Locally produced crafts are more attractive to tourists, and even working with local farmers in the field or herding cattle can be turned into a tourist attraction.

• Contribution to national growth:
Southern Africa is one of the greatest natural resources in the world, supporting—as it does—some of the most diverse eco-systems available. Nowhere in the region does tourism contribute anything close to it’s potential, recording only 2% of tourist numbers in the world for 2000. Estimated world expenditure on tourism in 2000 amounted to US$460 billion. It can be seen therefore that the gain to the region by increasing the number of visitors by just 1% would be in the amount of US$460 billion, in 2000 figures.

It is important to understand that when developing tourism in the rural areas, it is not just tourism that benefits. Infrastructure must be developed and investments in education and other areas must be made. The benefits of these investments are felt throughout the industrial and wealth-creating base of the entire country and region. For this reason tourism is often referred to as the “engine for growth”. This growth has far reaching effects and permeates all facets of national development in a positive manner.

Are there Constraints affecting Community Based Development Tourism in the SADC region?
Yes, just as benefits abound, a number of constraints exists. These constraints will not affect all the countries of the region to the same degree: For some countries the effects are minimal, but for others they may be critical; some countries may not be directly affected by these constraints but are suffering from the knock-on effects from other countries and the misconceptions of tourists. The tourist is not necessarily well educated in terms of the intended destination and convincing him or her to visit a given country, and providing education on what to expect is critical. This is the job of the national tourism agency in partnership with the tour operator. How this is done is often in itself a constraint.

Many constraints faced by CBT are relevant to all aspects of tourism. Any constraint which affects tourism in general also affects this subject matter. Community development tourism is seldom a stand-alone product and therefore cannot be viewed in isolation from mainstream tourism.

In certain respects however, constraints are characteristics of the product itself (eg remoteness of locations). In that regard, there may be no solution, or the solution is too expensive when compared to the potential earnings. In such instances, the real consideration is to the actual viability of the product itself.

Geographical and physical constraints

• Distance of SADC countries from main markets, and associated costs:
From the outset, the costs to the tourist of accessing the tourist attractions of Southern Africa are generally much greater than for competing attractions, such as East Africa. These include time costs—as it is a minimum of a full day’s travel in terms of leaving home and arriving at the final destination—in addition to loss of sleep. For the more remote locations, this journey is made more exhausting by overnight stops and less developed transport infrastructure. For some source markets, there can be anything from one to three air connections required before arrival at the final destination.

Much of the cost associated with these journeys results from practices outside the control of either the traveler or the destination community. As an example, the different air transport policies adopted by governments and their regulatory bodies can be seriously detrimental to the tourism industry. Setting of fees and tariffs without any consideration for the knock-on effect on other strategically important national industries, such as tourism or manufacturing is very harmful.
The challenge is for countries to adopt tourism marketing policies that are nationally integrated and linked to the regional transportation network.

• Remote location of products and access difficulties:
It is a characteristic of many community based tourism products that they are remote from any major towns, cities or other destinations. Travel to the remote product can take several hours, often along dirt roads, making travel arduous and slow. Access to the product can be very difficult, probably only by four wheels drive vehicles. During the rainy season, even this might not be possible, which eliminates much of the year for tourism activities. Only the most dedicated or curious tourist is going to endure these conditions to visit a community-based product. The attractiveness of the product and the variety of activities on offer are sufficient to persuade the tourist to make the effort. The difficulties in accessing the product can be alleviated by staying several days at the remote location, thus minimising the discomforts of travel. In these circumstances, it is often not possible to offer the product as a general tourism attraction. The location promotes its remoteness and lack of development as the positive aspect, and targets only the most adventous tourist as a consequence.

Bio-physical constraints

• Natural resource degradation:
In some areas of SADC, natural resources degradation has been caused by overuse of scarce natural resource such as forests (cutting down trees for use in buildings, carvings, firewood), riverbanks (illegal mining, erosion), wildlife (over hunting, poaching). There are many reasons for this—ignorance, population growth, survival...

In many SADC countries, the development of community tourism products has, in itself, resulted in the protection of scarce natural resources. Local community members have begun to recognise the value to be gained in the adoption of long-term strategies for regeneration of the resources. It is clear that these local communities knew all along that they were destroying their living environment, but in the absence of any economic alternatives, were forced to continue the destruction of the very environment upon which they depended. Tourism has provided them with some alternative, and also provides an incentive to ensure the future sustainability of all natural resources available to them.

• Health risks and diseases (Perception or reality?):
Health concerns are uppermost in people’s minds as they consider their annual holiday destinations. The thought of having to risk catching malaria, cholera, yellow fever, sleeping sickness, bilharzias, etc is often enough to prompt another choice of itinerary. These often-misconceived fears are compounded by the fact that the location of much of the community tourism products are in the most remote areas of Africa.
Tourists are best advised to seek updated health information prior to taking the necessary precautions and inoculations against diseases before embarking on their travels.

Social constraints

•Political instability and conflicts:
Of all of the world’s major industries, tourism is particularly susceptible to political instability and conflict. The vast array of options open to modern tourists means that it is easy to choose a destination similar in nature and experience, but without the fears of getting caught up in some internal strife or border war. Unfortunately, the continent of Africa still has packets of areas with wars and conflicts. The backgrounds and genesis of these wars may be obvious in some cases, obscure and incomprehensible in others, but for tourism this is academic. Tourists will not travel to strife-torn locations in any numbers. Equally, in too many instances, the tourist makes little or no distinction between the countries and peoples of sub-Saharan Africa.

Economic constraints

• Status of community land tenure and user rights:
While some countries have addressed the issue in legislation, communities in most SADC countries seldom have a legal right to the land they occupy, limiting their capacity to build permanent facilities such as lodges or other buildings. This also limits their ability to secure long-term loans, as they have no way of providing security for such loans to any financial institutions thus enabling development. Nor can they grant sub-leases to private sector interests whom might themselves build such facilities. Furthermore, they may have no legal right over the resources available within their community areas. In some instances, communities are allocated responsibility over the management of their areas, but no control over the usage of resources which remains in state hands. This is a constraint for sustainable development in that there can be no conservation of scarce natural resources where ownership is not in the community.

• Competition for investment from other tourism sub-sectors and regions of the world:
Tourism is the world’s largest industry. There is not a part of the planet which is not part of that industry. The consequent demands on the resources within the industry are such that often the investors choose the path of least resistance—ie look for the highest returns from the lowest investment, in line with market forces. In each instance where the regulatory and legal environment is made difficult, complicated or time-consuming, the investor is likely to look elsewhere.
It follows, therefore, that where governments have designed a simplified and easily accessible regulatory/legal/taxation environment, they are more likely to attract investment, both foreign and domestic. It is incumbent on the respective governments of the region to place investor-friendly systems in place in order to ensure that the region receives its share of the market.

Institutional constraints

• Planning and development approaches:
Too often authorised bodies prepare plans which, while worthwhile exercises in themselves demonstrating worthy objectives, suffer from one glaring weakness—a lack of resource allocation. A plan is simply not a plan if it does not include, in the first instance, full costing of all its facets. It must then indicate clearly where these resources are to be sourced and how they are to be managed. Following this, the plan must be time-scaled and actioned. Quite simply, there is no point in wasting time and scarce resources in preparing plans when there is no money available to implement them.
In addition, too often the preparation of these defective plans has become an end in itself. Institutions believe their job is done as soon as the plan is produced. There is seldom any commitment to the only part of a plan which is worthwhile—implementation! Planning is an essential tool for growth, but is not an end in itself. Where a plan is prepared and adopted by the relevant bodies, there must be full commitment from all stakeholders to its implementation.

• Disjointed regulatory and management structures for the tourist industry:
In many countries of Southern Africa, tourism is yet to be accorded the importance it merits if it is to achieve the objective of growing its contribution to the national economy. In addition, there is often a multiplicity of departments and ministries dealing with natural resources issues making co-ordination and agreement difficult. This leads to inefficiency, inter-departmental rivalries and ultimately failure to achieve objectives.
The management of tourism and related issues must be better co-ordinated towards achieving agreed objectives. For example, there is dire need to prepare more reliable, timely, accurate and relevant visitor statistics. The tour operators, both inbound and outbound, need accurate information as they prepare their plans and budgets for the forthcoming seasons. If they are to grow their business, they need to make investments. The extent of these investments requires a detailed knowledge of the market. In the absence of this knowledge, any investment will be undertaken with a measure of trepidation. In an effort to minimise risk, the investor will either go very slowly or not proceed at all.
Governments must take the necessary steps to ensure that the information required by the investor is gathered, accurately collated and made available. Accurate statistics are a prerequisite for a successful economy.

Policy and legislative constraints

•Inadequacy or absence of appropriate national policies and legislation—long delays between policy formulation and implementation:
Government is the primary organisation for the development of successful tourism within a country. It is government’s role to provide what is commonly referred to as the enabling environment to encourage private sector investment in the development of the direct tourism infrastructure and marketing of products. This is done in many ways, including the provision of investment and tax incentives, standard regulations, national based marketing campaigns, airline policy, etc. Where there is a lack of capacity within government in terms of formulation of policy in this manner, there is a serious constraint to development. In essence, the private sector cannot operate within a policy and legislative vacuum. They need some certainty with regard to a return on their investment and long-term stability.

Too often, governments look to the private sector to make investments in hotels, lodges, attractions, without having the security of regulatory and policy support. This demonstrates a lack of understanding of how the private sector operates. The private sector will be very reluctant to invest in any region where there is even the possibility of losing the value of that investment due to instability or lack of legislation which guarantees them some security. If they do invest in these circumstances, they will be looking at quick returns on the investment. They must constantly balance the risk-reward ratio. This can often make the price to the tourist unsustainable, resulting in the early demise of the tourism industry.

Equally applicable to the circumstances is where there is legislation in place, but this legislation is inappropriate to the encouragement of private sector investment. This happens where the legislation is too acquisitive (eg high taxation) or too hostile to the private sector (eg set up costs too high, corruption).

Legislation and policy to encourage tourism development is the result of a consultative approach amongst all stakeholders. For it to be effective, it must provide something for everyone—tax revenues for government, adequate profits for investors, employment and opportunities for local people and a satisfactory experience for the tourist.

• Restrictive immigration formalities:

Immigration procedures for visitors and tourists in some countries of SADC remain onerous and tedious. Long delays at points of entry, sometimes large and multiple entry fees, and other practices are sure deterrents to tourists.
This is an issue that is well understood within SADC, and discussions are progressing on the UNIVISA initiative. But it was taking too long to resolve as a result of “Policy and legislative” provisions not being in tandem.

Where to from here ?
Community Development Tourism should not, and cannot, be seen as the panacea for all social, environmental and economic difficulties facing rural—indeed all communities—in Southern Africa. Albeit an important and inclusive tool in the empowerment of communities, it is merely another method by which poorer and disadvantaged communities can be brought into mainstream economic activity. It is not intended to replace traditional agricultural, hunting, craft or other economic activities among rural communities, nor can it ever hope to stem the tide of urbanisation of large sections of the population. It’s great advantage lies in its inherent strengths—it is of the community and the environment itself. The product is there in abundance throughout the region—it just needs development and by the tourist discovering.

It is clear that there are many and varied constraints to the successful marketing of Community Based Tourism in Southern Africa. There is a standing requirement for various stakeholders to carry out their responsibilities in the development of CBT. There are situations for example, where development is only possible after government has adopted proactive policies, legislation and regulations. In short, governments throughout the region will have to put in place the facilitating environment which makes progress in all other areas possible. It is recommended that the best approach to this would be in partnership with donor agencies, the private sector and communities in terms of financial and actual construction.

Further, is it realistic to expect that success can be found in the most remote locations in Southern Africa given the potential benefit and constraints as expounded here? To be successful, it is essential that the region possesses primary tourism attractions, such as Victoria Falls, Kruger National Park, Mount Kilimanjaro, Okavango Delta/Chobe, the Golden /White Sand beaches, the 570km long Lake Malawi, the unspoiled Wilderness of the Congo and Zambezi rivers, and the spectacular and unique Swaziland and Lesotho Landscapes, which together forming the hub of the tourism product.

The community tourism product can be marketed as an adjunct to a visit to these primary attractions, thus keeping the tourists in the area for a longer period by giving them an additional new experience. The OUZIT initiative, currently housed in RETOSA, will, in my view, serve as a catalyst and marketer of these primary attractions (tourism nodes) of the region and bring the CBTs closer to the world’s market.

For more information on individual Community Based Tourism products in SADC, please obtain your copy of the Directory of Community Based Tourism from Retosa:
Tel:+27 11 315 2420
Fax:+27 11 315 2422
http://www.retosa.co.za