Tourism and Poverty Reduction: Issues for Small Island States

Abstract

The notion that tourism can contribute significantly to poverty reduction strategies is attracting great interest from multilateral institutions, tourism bodies, donors and other organizations around the globe. Tourism is certainly a major contributor to economic development in many small island developing states (SIDS) and often it is the only industry in these countries to consistently demonstrate growth in recent years. However, the growth of tourism in SIDS is by no means synonymous with poverty reduction, in fact, in some cases it entrenches existing inequalities. If tourism is to contribute significantly to the reduction of poverty in SIDS, a broad approach that values social sustainability as well as the more popular environmental sustainability and economic growth will be necessary. In addition, governments need to establish an effective policy environment and play a stronger regulatory role if sustainable, equity-enhancing tourism is to emerge. The paper suggests effective ways in which national planning can both encourage private sector actors to support poverty reduction and facilitate the involvement of wider sectors of society in tourism development. It is not sufficient for governments to simply promote tourism development in line with neoliberal growth-orientated policies.

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