Tourism and Poverty Reduction: Principles and impacts in developing countries

Over the past decade, there have been an increasing number of publications that have analysed and critiqued the potential of tourism to be a mechanism for poverty reduction in less economically developed countries (LEDCs). This book showcases work by established and emerging researchers that provides new thinking and tests previously made assumptions, providing an essential guide for students, practitioners and academics.

This book advances our understanding of the changes and ways forward in the field of sustainable tourism development. Five main themes are illustrated throughout the book: (1) measuring impacts of tourism on poverty; (2) the need to evaluate whether interventions that aim to reduce poverty are effective; (3) how unbalanced power relations and weak governance can undermine efforts; (4) the importance of the private sector’s use of pro-poor business practices; and (5) the value of using multidisciplinary and multi-method research approaches. Furthermore, the book shows that academic research findings can be used practically in destinations, and how practitioners can benefit from sharing their experiences with academic scholars.

This book was based on a special issue and various articles from the Journal of Sustainable Tourism.

Anna Spenceley is an international consultant working on innovative solutions in global sustainable tourism. She is Chair of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Commission on Protected Areas: Tourism and Protected Areas Specialist Group, and editor of Responsible Tourism: Critical issues for Conservation and Development (2010).

Dorothea Meyer is Senior Lecturer in Tourism, and leads the special interest research group ‘Political Economy of Tourism for Development', at Sheffield Hallam University, UK. She specialises in the political economy of tourism development, and the role of tourism as an agent for poverty reduction in less economically developed countries.