Tourism, Poverty and Development

Poverty alleviation is high on the global policy agenda, its importance being emphasised by its place as the first of the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals. As a potentially significant source of economic growth in developing countries, tourism may also play a major role in poverty reduction and alleviation under the right circumstances. The incorporation of tourism into development policy and Poverty Reduction Strategies has special poignancy for those Least Developed Countries where natural resources exist to support a tourism industry and there are limited development alternatives.This book offers a holistic, explicit and detailed introduction to the relationship of poverty and tourism within the context of developing countries. The book is divided into distinct sections, progressing from an evaluation of the key concepts of poverty, tourism and development; to the causal factors of poverty; to the mechanisms of how tourism is being implemented in policy and practice to reduce poverty and finally to an analysis of the relationship between tourism to poverty alleviation in the future. The adopted analytical approach of the key themes is multi-disciplinary, incorporating tourism studies, human geography, political economy, economics, development and environmental studies. It integrates examples and original case studies from varying geographical developing regions including Africa, South Asian and East Asia and the Pacific, to lend practical insights into tourism’s role in poverty alleviation. The text will be of particular interest to higher education students from tourism studies, geography, political economy, environmental and development studies, and sociology backgrounds. It will also be of relevance to government and policy makers, alongside those who have a more general interest in poverty alleviation.

'This book offers a timely and much-needed discussion of the historical and geopolitical context of poverty in the developing world, along with valuable intersections with tourism and development. It is an important reading for students interested in pro-poor tourism as well as sustainable tourism, ecotourism, and tourism development in general.'- Tazim Jamal, Associate Professor, Texas A&M University'The numbers of people in the world suffering poverty should be a source of shame for all of us, that demands we think and act to reduce poverty. This book brings a multi-disciplinary approach to help students develop a political literacy about the real causes of poverty and what tourism can contribute to make the world a fairer place for all.'- Graham Miller, Professor of Sustainability in Business, University of Surrey'This an excellent introductory text to the study of Tourism and its effects on the socioeconomic and cultural environment of developing and emerging countries, within today's contemporary sustainability agenda....The final chapter in particular gives a clear analysis of where the sustainable and development tourism discourse is today, and analyses and describes, where required with diagrammatic illustrations, the likely trends of the future.'- Dr Ola Uduku, Reader in Architecture, Co-Director Urban Strategies and Development M.Sc. University of Edinburgh‘The text provides a comprehensive introduction to poverty and tourism development in LDCs and opens up room for further interrogation, including over the accessibility of capital for the poor to start tourism-related enterprises in LDCs. The book is relevant for tourism students and provides the arguments and counter arguments, on the economic, cultural and social impacts it may have with respect to poverty.’- Geoffrey K. Riungu (October 2015; 15 (4)) "Book review: Holden, Andrew. 2013: Tourism, Poverty and Development", Progress in Development Studies Journal

Holden, Andrew