Abstract
Tourism, a known catalyst for economic development, can have both positive and negative impacts on destinations. Strategic planning is crucial to mitigate adverse effects, emphasizing resource sustainability, stakeholder inclusivity, and community empowerment. Integration of the community is recognized as essential in all stages of destination planning, leveraging local expertise on cultural and natural attributes. Despite its importance, achieving inclusive community participation is challenging due to various barriers, including unbalanced power dynamics, identity issues, and gender disparities, particularly in underdeveloped countries. The integral role of community integration in destination planning is imperative, given the local expertise it provides. However, numerous barriers persist, hindering community empowerment in tourism development. The study focuses on Latin American destinations, acknowledging unique challenges and aims to measure tourism empowerment in Manta, Ecuador, using the Resident Empowerment through Tourism Scale (RETS). The research also assesses the practical validity of RETS, aiming to contribute insights into exclusive practices, barriers, and gates affecting empowerment. The study’s significance lies in recognizing empowerment as crucial for community-centric and socially responsible tourism development. By understanding its dimensions, destination managers can develop effective strategies, and empowered communities actively contribute to comprehending tourism’s costs and benefits. The research provides valuable data on RETS’s practical validity, addressing barriers to community participation in tourism planning, particularly in the context of emerging inclusion movements and dynamic political landscapes in Latin America.
Presenters
Estefania BasurtoDestination Management Working Group Lead, Richardson Family SmartState Center of Economic Excellence in Tourism, University of South Carolina, South Carolina, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Community Diversity and Governance
KEYWORDS
Barriers, Empowerment, Manta, Community, Inclusive Tourism Development
