Pro-poor Tourism, a Creative Solution

Pro-poor tourism... what is it? It is basically a regular tourism, -except that it aims to intentionally benefit the poor and help reduce poverty. This is the first time I've heard of this concept and it might be best to explore this topic by answering basic WH questions -what, who, why, where, plus how.

What?

Pro-Poor Tourism or PTT, as I've already said is "tourism that results in increased net benefits for poor people". It is an approach to tourism development and management which enhances the linkages between tourism businesses and poor people, so that poor people are able to effectively participate in development and tourism's contribution to poverty reduction is increased.

Where?

Places where PPT is implemented are in developing countries, mainly in Africa. Some successful examples are the mountain climbing in Tanzania and the cultural PPT in Laos. Any place or country who aims to reduce poverty should consider this option.

Who?

A wide range of links with many different types of 'the poor'  that needs to be considered, such as: "staff, neighbouring communities, land-holders, producers of food, fuel and other suppliers, operators of micro tourism businesses, craft-makers, other users of tourism infrastructure (roads) and resources (water) etc." 

Also PPT can involve different types of companies  - a small lodge, an urban hotel, a tour operator, an infrastructure developer. The critical factor is not the type of company, but that an increase in the net benefits that go to poor people can be demonstrated, as emphasised by a number of PPT strategies.

Why?

To benefit the poor. In general, staff wages are a massive boost to those few that get them, small earnings help many more to make ends meet, and collective income can benefit the majority. However this can often be misused. There are three different types of local benefit that identified in PPT strategies (See Table1). "Thus all three types are important for reaching different poor families. Strategies to create these benefits need to tackle many obstacles to economic participation, including lack of skills, low understanding of tourism, poor product quality and limited market access."

How?

This table summarises the three different areas for PPT strategy.

Table 1: Types of PPT strategies

Increase economic benefits	Enhance non-financial livelihood impacts	Enhance participation and partnership
1. Boost local employment, wages 2. Boost local enterprise opportunities 3. Create collective income sources – fees, revenue shares	1. Capacity building, training 2. Mitigate environmental impacts 3. Address competing use of natural resources 4. Improve social, cultural impacts 5. Increase local access to infrastructure and services	1. Create more supportive policy/planning framework 2. Increase participation of the poor in decision-making 3. Build pro-poor partnerships with private sector 4. Increase flows of information, communication

Implementing these may and will involve lobbying for policy reform, involving the poor in local planning initiatives, amplifying their voice through producer associations, and developing formal and informal relationships and partnerships between the poor and private operators.

I think that this is a very simple and creative solution to reducing poverty, and also to increase awareness among people, forming positive relationships and links. However this is something that leaders and authorities should not take advantage of as put in the wrong hands may do more harm and damage.

To end this post here's a video I found in youtube that is used as part of a research project on PPT. Very informative...  that will make you think and imagine of the possibilities of using tourism -not to generate and create more wealth but rather to generate creative solutions to benefit the poor and ultimately benefit society as a whole.

[Related sites: http://www.women-on-the-road.com/pro-poor-tourism.html, http://www.propoortourism.org.uk/what_is_ppt.html]