Refocusing sustainable tourism : poverty alleviation in iconic world heritage destinations in Southeast Asia

The exponential growth of tourism in World Heritage sites in Southeast Asia provides economic development, but with it unplanned consequences on the places where everyday life is radically transformed. This chapter looks at the UN Sustainable Development Goals, in particular the interactions of heritage, tourism and poverty. A study of Luang Prabang in Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) considers how small historic towns are transformed by the growth of tourism-led development. It looks at the effect on poverty in this remote rural town that has become an iconic tourism destination due to its World Heritage Listing

Lao tourism and poverty alleviation: community-based tourism (CBT) and the private sector

Tourism as a tool for development was first mooted in the 1970s. Recently, focus has been on the role of ecotourism, pro-poor tourism and Community-Based Tourism (CBT). This has been so in Lao People's Democratic Republic, where international tourism is a vital source of foreign exchange and employment and an important feature of the government's poverty-alleviation strategy. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) finances many infrastructural projects facilitating tourist movement in the Lower Mekong Basin, and with the Lao Government and the Netherlands Development Agency (SNV) is a key player in Donor-Assisted, Community-Based Tourism (DACBT). The development of DACBT in Lao PDR is discussed in some detail, especially the Nam Ha Ecotourism Project, and is compared briefly with the role of the private sector in tourism development in Southern Lao PDR. It is concluded that while DACBT projects can indeed alleviate poverty and develop financial and cultural capital, private sector tourism enterprises also have an important role in poverty alleviation, and it should not be assumed that DACBT is the only - or necessarily the most efficient - form of pro-poor tourism