Challenges facing exploitation of CBT
According to (Koch, 1997; Tosun, 2000).Community members, even those who are highly
involved in tourism development do not speak English, except for the very basics. In the tourism
industry this is a major constraint. Especially in a CBT proposal which aims at the development
of a community, it is important that tourists can communicate with the locals and the other way
around. Considering the background of many tourists, it is unlikely that they will speak local
language, or even more unlikely that they speak the local language. To reach the effect of
educating tourists about the community development, a translator is necessary, making the
community members very dependent on tour operators or other types of organizations. While
some small development organizations have visited the community with the purpose of teaching
English, this was never in a consistent manner, and thus always sticking to the basics. However,
both the lack of knowledge about the tourism industry and the lack of English will become less
of a problem for younger generations who receive special tourism education in school. The
school teaches children about the tourist attractions in the region and about sustainability. At the
same time children receive English classes (although this is largely dependent on volunteers,
who work on a temporary base), which are mostly focused at the tourism industry, (Timothy,
1999).
Another major constraint for tourism development is the remoteness of the location in
combination with the small size of the village. There is only a small amount of tourists who
come in the larger towns. There is no public transportation going to the village, and it is often
recommended to tourists with their own transportation to avoid the dirt roads. Again, this means
that the local community is for a large part dependent on the tour operators that bring tourists
with their transportation, (Koch, 1997; Tosun, 2000).
There is the lack of the use and knowledge of the computer and internet in the village. Most
community members do not have computers or access to internet, and don’t know how it works.
Those who work or study in nearby towns do use the computer, but it is not used for CBT
purposes. It means, in combination with the lack of English by community members, that tourists
cannot have any direct contact with community members for information or reservations,
(Goodwin, 2006).
While CBT is very popular for sustainable tourism development, it has rarely been critically
reviewed (Goodwin, 2011). CBT proposals come with risks. Some studies for instance find that
the revenues gained from CBT are relatively small (Mitchell & Muckosy, 2008; Goodwin, 2006)
and sometimes do not even outweigh the costs. CBT proposals can also fail because of a lack of
access to markets and poor governance. Other researchers have also found limitations to
participation of the local community, such as lack of knowledge and resources, and the fact that
the local community does not always operate as one group (Koch, 1997; Tosun, 2000;
Scheyvens, 2002; Timothy, 1999). While there is little discussion about if the local community
should participate in tourism planning and development, the question is how community
members should participate.
Tourists are of course a major actor in tourism development. Like any industry, tourism also
depends on a balance between demand and supply. The demand in the tourism industry depends
on the needs of tourists. Due to its remote location and little facilities, Nzambani used to have a
lot of difficulties attracting tourists. Only in the last few years the amount of tourists have
increased up to a level with which most community members are satisfied. The behavior of
tourists will in large parts also influence the socio-cultural and environmental impact of tourism
development. Of course the local community is able to influence this impact.
According to (Brohman, 1996), the tourism industry in Thailand has not only brought positive
developments. One major concern is sex tourism, for which Thailand is well known. Bangkok
and Pattaya both have large sex industries, which attract many tourists. While this sex industry
already existed before the large touristic developments, it has increased due to tourism and
became a major tourist attraction to many. The sex industry in Thailand has a negative image,
mainly because of the high number of child prostitution, poor working conditions, and the forced
prostitution of women from poor rural areas to provide for their family. Although prostitution is
officially illegal in Thailand, little efforts are made by authorities to enforce the laws against
prostitution. A second major concern in tourism development in Thailand is overcrowding,
which leads to environmental degradation. Due to fast pace of tourism development in the
coastal areas, little attention was paid to the negative environmental consequences, such as
deforestation and soil erosion. Due to recreational activities such as diving and snorkeling, as
well as fishing activities, pressure is puton the famous Thai coral reef areas. In the last two
decades the Thai government has made more regulations for the use of natural resources.
National parks, both in the coastal areas and the mainland, have been created to protect the
environment. Many areas in Thailand are also regarded as being ‘visually’ spoilt because of the
high numbers of tourists, hotels, bars and restaurants. Islands which were once peaceful
getaways are now highly developed touristic areas. However, also within the mass tourism areas
in Thailand, like Phuket, efforts are made to involve communities in tourism activities.
(Scheyvens, 2002; Timothy, 1999 for instance found that some tour operators involved in
community-based ecotourism activities settle in mass tourist destinations on purpose (2005). He
also concludes that such practices are successful, even though there are many trade-offs. In the
last decade some external factors also influenced Thailand’s tourism industry. The SARS
outbreak in the beginning of the 21stcentury for instance caused a temporary drop in tourism
arrivals and receipts. The Tsunami in December 2004 also had a great impact on the tourism
industry. Large parts of the tourism facilities, such as roads and hotels in the touristic parts of
Thailand, such as Phuket, needed to be rebuilt. However, the amount of visitors only decreased
with 1% in 2005 (World Bank). Even more recently political unrest (in 2009 and 2010) and
floods (in 2011) have caused some negative travel advises to Thailand by authorities. While this
led to a decrease in tourist arrivals in some months (World Bank, 2010), the overall tourism
industry does not seem to be affected negatively.
Tourism development in developing countries often proceeds in an ad hoc way (Tosun &
Jenkins, 1998), meaning that there is a lack of planning and coordination. (Scheyvens, 2002;
Timothy, 1999 found that the barriers to starting a tour operator or travel agency in Thailand are
extremely low (2010). Tourism in Thailand is characterized by the fast pace of development,
leading to both positive and negative impacts. While little efforts were made to make tourism
development sustainable when Thailand first started to attract large groups of tourists,
sustainability now becomes increasingly important. The Tourism Authority Thailand (TAT) also
pays attention to sustainable tourism development by providing training to different actors in the
tourism industry in Thailand.
The development of many community-based tourism proposals also shows the demand for more
sustainable tourism activities, both by the local community and tourists. CBT is especially
popular in the northern part of Thailand, in the provinces Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. Here,
activities such as hill tribe home stays are popular, as well as trekking. CBT is thus combined
with nature-, and culture-based tourism. In the southern parts of Thailand, such as the Andaman
coast area, also many CBT proposals are developed. In these locations, beach tourism is
frequently combined with home stays. There are several organizations which coordinate or assist
the development of CBT proposals. The community-based tourism institute (CBT-i) is a country-
wide organization which works together with communities and the government. It aims at
gaining and sharing skills and knowledge to help communities with the development of tourism
in a way that is beneficial to them. They do this by, among other things, research and training.
There are also several regional organizations that provide similar services, such as the northern
Thailand community-based tourism network (CBT-N) and the north Andaman community
tourism network (N-ACT). In general they have the same goal, which is to empower
communities in sustainable tourism development, (Scheyvens, 2002; Timothy, 1999).
The tourism industry is well known for having disastrous effects on the natural environment.
Much nature based tourism activities, such as diving and hiking, might harm to the natural
environment, especially when large numbers of tourists are visiting the sights (UNWTO, 1998).
Diving activities for instance may result into the degradation of the coral reef. Pollution by
irresponsible tourists, such as litter on the beach or in forests, also harms the natural environment
visibly. It often is the local population that knows the environments best, and might be able to
know best what is good for the environment. Like with cultural monuments and traits, the
environment might also be either harmed or protected as a result of tourism, depending on the
type of development and the regulations. Regulated parks can for instance control the amount of
visitors to an area and at the same time earn some money for preservation and maintenance.
Finally, the tourism industry causes noise, air and visibility pollution.
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