Community-Based Ecotourism Principles as a Framework for Community Development in Protected Areas

Radwan, Yasmine and Fathi, Amira A. and Al-Hagla, Khalid S. M. (2023) Community-Based Ecotourism Principles as a Framework for Community Development in Protected Areas. LET IT GROW, LET US PLAN, LET IT GROW. Nature-based Solutions for Sustainable Resilient Smart Green and Blue Cities. Proceedings of REAL CORP 2023, 28th International Conference on Urban Development, Regional Planning and Information Society. pp. 133-143. ISSN 2521-3938

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Abstract

Tourism is one of the most important sources of national & international income in the World. One type which has the potential to contribute to the sustainable development of local communities and alleviation of poverty levels is Ecotourism. Ecotourism implies responsibility to the environment, resident communities, and a duty to respect, invest, and develop local cultures. This definition not only suggets that there should be a recognition of and positive support for the conservation of natural resources, both by suppliers and consumers, but also that there is a necessary social dimension to ecotourism. The term ‘community-based ecotourism’ (CBET) takes this social dimension a stage further. This is a planning paradigm where the local community has substantial control over, and involvement in its development and management, and a major proportion of the benefits remain within the community. CBET is considered the logical link between the environment, the local community, and the tourism industry. It has become the newest planning process approach in tourism development, devised to support community involvement, improve their living standards and protect natural resources which is the main current problem resulting from the mass tourism industry in Egypt. Since 2002, also the year when eco-tourism was internationally promoted by the UN the Egyptian government began to seek new strategies and plans to actively support the participation of local communities in ecotourism development initiatives in Egypt’s rich biodiversity and numerous protected areas. However, the actual implementation of involving communities in decision making is poorly achieved, which impacted negatively on the effectiveness and sustainability of these initiatives. This paper proposes an integrated community-based ecotourism framework. This was done through a theoretical study of the main principles and stratergies of community ecotourism that have been successfully applied in developing countries by using the Egyptian protected areas classifications which determine the applicable community participation types for effectively involving local communities in protected areas. Subsequently the framework can be applied to specific destinations and recommend action points for their development according to each area‘s needs and variable circumstances. Once developed, this integrated planning tool can be used to devise a local urban development plan by the local government and other organisations in protected areas to improve the physical and social environments and to create a better understanding of the relationship between tourism and community.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	protected areas, framework, community development, ecotourism, urban planning
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GV Recreation Leisure H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Depositing User:	REAL CORP Administrator
Date Deposited:	03 Oct 2023 10:33
Last Modified:	04 Oct 2023 17:39
URI:	http://repository.corp.at/id/eprint/1012

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