Community Based Tourism

Within a CBT model, the benefits are distributed to all households. For example, even if not all families within a community host homestays, some may act as guides or naturalists, or even provide meals. Through the agreed use of a community fund, even those people who are not directly involved in tourism benefit from CBT.

CBT empowers people with the help of skills training, as well as provides opportunities for local infrastructure development (power, roads, sanitation, water) and health benefits (water and waste management education). CBT also promotes a more impartial and fair community structure. Association and interaction with foreign travellers also helps raise confidence and pride among the community.

Community-based tourism (CBT) ensures that it is the local communities that will have full ownership and management of the tourism experience. In doing so, whatever economic benefits they gain from tourism will remain within the community. CBT is designed in such a way as to give visitors an authentic experience of the local heritage, culture and natural resources. This offers a rich, immersive travel experience.

CBT provides responsible employment opportunities and generation of revenue through tourism. By procuring goods and services locally, it also ensures that the funds stay within the community. CBT also diversifies the economic activities of a community beyond farming, fishing, or other primary local means of income, thus reducing the risk in years when varying climate produces low or no yield.

One of the greatest outcomes of CBT is the empowerment of women within the community, since they are often largely responsible for the generation and management of experiences, and therefore income.

CBT has also often prevented young people in communities leaving for larger cities for the sake of employment, by providing them gainful employment opportunities within their locality.