Question & Answers
African Mayors ask about LED
How to factor coastal tourism into LED Strategies?
Are there any examples of LED experiences, where costal tourism is a major component of the strategy?"
Esebo Mokate Samuel
Lord Mayor, Limbe III Council, Cameroon
Tourism experiences from central America
Dear Samuel,I'm myself working on LED projects (although it's in Central America) where basically Tourism is used to enhance local communities’ incomes.It's not quite the same as yours as we're using tourism infrastructures to provide supports to local communities. Tourism is already a fact and well established.I've found some interesting papers.Here is a couple that can give you some ideas, both being totally different (with a wide bibliography and emails) All the best, http://etudescaribeennes.revues.org/document1192.htmlhttp://www.haroldgoodwin.info/resources/Flyer_Final.pdf
LED and tourism
Tourism can be a strong driver of economic development. It can provide job opportunities, income and economic vibrancy. A lot of communities see huge potentials in tourism development and most of them have got something to display: A beautiful waterfall, cultural heritage sites, a wealth of wild animals, arts and crafts, lovely mountains and plenty of other strong potentials. But are these enough to attract tourists to come to the area? What about access roads, accommodation, restaurants, toilet facilities and other tourism infrastructure? Are we talking about local tourists, national tourists, international tourists? Are we talking about day visitors or long-term guests? Beach or eco-tourism, cultural or activity tourism? There are plenty of open questions whenever the issue of tourism development is addressed. Only one challenge is always the same: If we want to support the development of tourism we have to be sure that the private sector is in the drivers seat whilst the public sector ensures the necessary framework conditions.The international experience on the link between LED and tourism is as complex as the topic itself. Different experience from various countries provides a multitude of challenges and pitfalls but also vast opportunities. Please find some interesting papers and podcasts on "LED and tourism". It would be great if more members would join the discussion and contribute from their own experience!
Pro-Poor Tourism and LED
The UN Millennium Development Goals include specific commitments to reduce by one-half the proportion of people living in extreme poverty by 2015. This can be achieved through several approaches amongst which tourism stands tall. The World Tourism Organization estimates that tourism accounts for up to 10% of global gross domestic product, making it the world's biggest industry. The potential for tourism to contribute significantly to poverty alleviation is as such considerable.A pro-poor approach to tourism development and management which ensures that local poor people are able to secure economic benefits from tourism in a fair and sustainable manner should not be compromised in an attempt to develop local tourism . Pro-poor tourism may improve the livelihoods of poor people in three main ways: -Economic gain through employment and micro-enterprise development; -Infrastructure gains: roads, water, electricity, telecommunications, waste treatment; -Empowerment through engagement in decision makingAn example of how tourism has been used to achieve moderate gains in LED is the case of the cities of Cape coast and Elmina in Ghana.Refer to page 7 of this document on the Cape coast and Elmina examples in Ghana.www.makingcitieswork.org
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