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Environment & Development series no. 17

The Politics of Tourism, Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Development

By Anita Pleumarom
Publisher: TWN
ISBN: 978-967-5412-71-4
Year: 2012   No. of pages: 80
 14.5cm x 21cm

About the Book

This paper gives an overview of the work that has been done in the field of tourism, sustainable development and poverty reduction and highlights major policy statements of agencies promoting ‘responsible’, ‘sustainable’ and ‘pro-poor tourism’.

After providing a brief outline of the historical controversy of tourism as development, it discusses various aspects that play a crucial role in the tourism debate with a focus on poverty and sustainable development: e.g. economic performance, livelihoods, land and natural resources, food security, environmental sustainability, climate change, and the role of women. It also takes a critical look at the new concept of tourism and ‘Green Economy’, as the latter has been included as a key item on the agenda of Rio+20, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June 2012).

The key message of this paper is that all discourses and initiatives on sustainable pro-poor tourism are of little value unless the realities on the ground and the voices of local people are fully taken into account. It is also vital to make tourism part of a wider political debate on how to effectively tackle the root causes of poverty, inequality and problems of environmental degradation and climate change in the context of globalization.

About the Author

ANITA PLEUMAROM is a geographer and political scientist trained at the Free University of Berlin, Germany. She currently coordinates the Bangkok-based Tourism Investigation & Monitoring Team (tim-team) and is editor of the news bulletin South-East Asia Tourism Monitor. She has also published in Thailand and internationally numerous articles on tourism in the developing world, sustainable and ecotourism, and climate change as related to tourism. Her organization tim-team is part of a wider network of non-governmental and grassroots organizations working for social and ecological justice and human rights in South-East Asia and beyond.

CONTENTS

1. UPRISING OF THE POOR – A GRASSROOTS EXPERIENCE

2. GLOBAL ARMY OF ‘PRO-POOR TOURISM’ PROMOTERS

3. ‘DISMAL SCIENCE’ REVIEWED

4. ALLEVIATING OR AGGRAVATING POVERTY?

4.1 Economic progress?

4.2 Loss of resources and traditional livelihoods

4.3 Sustainable development or environmental impoverishment?

4.4 Threats related to climate change

4.5 Unlocking opportunities for women?

4.6 Medical tourism versus health care for locals

4.7 Lessons learned from ‘pro-poor’ ventures

4.8 “Regulation bad – growth good”

4.9 Exposing the poor to a high-risk industry?

5. SUSTAINABLE TOURISM FUTURE IN A ‘GREEN ECONOMY’?

6. ‘BAREFOOT’ APPROACH NEEDED

Endnotes

           

References     

        

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How to Order the Book

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