Community Based Ecotourism Strategies: Key Indicators For Successful Practices In Developing Countries

Abstract

Community-Based Ecotourism Development (CBE) strategy is considered the logical link between the environment, local community, and tourism industry. It emphasizes on locals’ support and the fact that encouragement and motivation are the only ways to attain the protection of the environment and the enhancement of tourism development. Ecotourism practices in many countries faced various obstacles that hinder their success such as lack of training, services, infrastructure, and marketing budget. Therefore, The CBE strategies have been formulated by some developing countries to fill in these gaps. These governments have actually succeeded in the implementation of those strategies, and it showed a positive impact on economic development, environmental management, and local community empowerment. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine the characteristics of successful community-based ecotourism initiatives and identify the principles of a successful CBE development strategy and its indicators, by analyzing the different implemented strategies in those developing countries, using the analytical and comparative approach. The paper focused on four developing countries, which are: Kenya, Jordan, Tunisia, and India, in addition to their strategic locations and their unique ecological characteristics, the case studies were selected also based on their followed successful techniques in facing their economic, social, political, and ecological problems and challenges. The paper concludes the methods used to measure the success of these strategies by identifying several and varied indicators that should be taken into account to ensure their effectiveness and sustainability.