A free resource for nonprofit
organizations, NGOs, civil society organizations,
charities, schools, public sector agencies & other
mission-based agencies
by Jayne Cravens
More resources at coyotecommunications.com &
coyoteboard.com (same web site)
Tourism for Community &
Economic Development
My work & favorite resources
Tourism is a major driver of economic growth and
sustainable development. Tourists that come in to see even just
one site or or to experience just one activity in a region spend
money for accommodation, food, local items, and transportation
support (taxis, gas, parking, mass transit), thereby affecting a
range of businesses.
A tourist site does not have to be huge; it can be a small
historic site, a farm or ranch that represents a unique or
desirable local practice, a unique local food, unique textile or
ceramic production, distinctive music or other arts, a park that
is a beautiful place to walk, bicycle ride or take pictures, and
on and on. It can be in an economically-rich area or an area that
is low on the economic development scale. It may attract tourists
from across the region, across the country - or from around the
world.
Meeting in Mexico in 2012, the G20 underscored the role of tourism
in the economy and committed to work on advancing travel
facilitation as a means to stimulate demand and spending, and thus
promote job creation. Sustainable tourism was further included in
the Outcome Document of the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable
Development in 2012.1, 2
But tourism also has other benefits: people who travel, and who
encounter travelers, learn about different cultures and regions.
That knowledge can lead to greater understanding about and respect
for cultural and regional differences. Travelers take that
knowledge - through their stories and photos and locally-produced
items - back to their home communities, educating and inspiring
others.
And there's also the personal growth and education travelers
receive - that's one of the biggest attractions for travelers, one
that those who want to cater to such often forget. Not every
traveler is a luxury traveler and is from an upper economic class;
many travelers are budget travelers, either because of their
economic limits or because of their desire for a particular kind
of experience. All too often, these travelers are forgotten in
discussions about the development of tourism.
The benefits of tourism are many, for both those traveling and
those living in or near destinations, but developing tourism in a
region, ANY region, is easier said than done. A series of very
well-run workshops to encourage local businesses to cater to
bicycle tourists in small towns throughout Oregon might still fail
to inspire most participants. Conversations with village leaders
in Afghanistan to answer their questions about eco tourism may
confuse the issue even further. Those are two scenarios I've
experienced firsthand in my community
development work (and they were remarkably similar
experiences!). Misunderstandings and unrealistic expectations are
two common factors that contribute to tourism-for-development
initiatives failing. Getting people in any community to embrace
what's necessary to make successful tourism happen in their region
is a challenge - but it is possible.
This section of my site is about my work and my favorite
resources regarding tourism for community & economic
development, as well as resources related to tourism as a
way to develop individuals personally, particularly for women.
Some resources are focused on travelers (which can be helpful to
those wishing to cater to such travelers), and some are focused on
those that want to attract travelers. Most of my own resources
relate to women travelers and budget travelers.
Resources I've developed that relate to tourism development
include:
- A Broad
Abroad Resources & Inspiration For Women Who Travel (or
Want to!). A series of tip sheets, essays and links to
web sites to encourage women to travel, and to support those
who do.
- Packing
tips and health
& safety considerations especially for novice women
travelers. Sites wishing to cater to women travelers should
view the safety tips in particular to evaluate how well they
accommodate women travelers in terms of safety.
- Things for women to consider regarding accommodations
choices while traveling, including advice on on safety.
Hotels and guest houses wishing to cater to women travelers
should view the safety tips to evaluate how well they
accommodate women travelers in terms of safety.
- For
women who travel by motorcycle (or want to). Includes
information on packing and accommodations.
- transire
benefaciendo: "to travel along while doing good." Advice
for those wanting to make their travel more than sight-seeing
and shopping, whether in your own country or abroad.
- Using
the Internet to Share Your Adventure During Your Adventure,
advice on blogging, photo-sharing, tweeting, etc.
- Advice
for Hotels, Hostels & Campgrounds in Transitional &
Developing Countries: The Qualities of Great, Cheap
Accommodations. This resource is for those budget
accommodation sites that want to better cater to international
travelers, especially women.
- Louisville,
Kentucky Needs a Travelers' Hostel: a proposal and
business plan outline for a traveler's hostel in Louisville,
Kentucky, USA (it's a dream of mine). Feel free to use this as
a template for your own proposal in your own community.
- Vetting Organizations in
Other Countries
A resource that helps people evaluate volunteer-placement
organizations that charge the volunteer for the placement
(voluntourism) . It's also a good resource for people and
organizations interested in partnering or supporting an
organization abroad but wanting to know it's a credible
organization, that it's not some sort of scam, or an
'organization' of just one person. If you are an organization
in a developing country that is aspiring to attract
international volunteers and partners, this page should be of
interest to you as well, as it shows what you need on your web
site and in your practices to be seen as credible.
- Hosting International
Volunteers
This resource provides tips for local organization in a
developing countries interested in gaining to international
volunteers, including engaging in voluntourism.
- The Canby,
Oregon Bicycle and Pedestrian Facebook page - part of my
work with my own community as a citizen volunteer.
I'll add links to my favorite resources to this page in the coming
weeks and months.
FOOTNOTES
1 G20
recognizes travel tourism as driver of economic growth
2
Tourism can contribute three pillars of sustainability
Also see:
Tourism4Dev
Resources by Others
I've compiled this page of links to resources by other
organizations regarding tourism for development.
Jayne A Broad
Facebook page 
This Facebook fan page is where I follow USA state parks, national
parks, national forests, and organizations focused on sustainable
tourism, getting children, women and under-represented groups
outdoors, and related international organizations and sites. My
travel-related tweets from the my jayne_a_broad twitter
feed (see below) get posted here automatically. It's about
learning and sharing regarding tourism as a tool for economic
and community development - and the importance of travel for
our personal
and educational growth.
My @jayne_a_broad
Twitter feed
This Twitter feed is focused on my own experiences traveling,
camping, riding my motorcycle or my bicycle, taking mass transit
(buses and trains), commuting by walking or bicycling, and various
other mostly-personal interests, including politics. If you are a
woman motorcyclist, a non-spandex-wearing bicycle commuter or
girlie-bike rider, an international adventure or budget traveler,
a motorcycle traveler, a mass transit advocate, a writer or
researcher regarding any of these subjects - or someone that wants
to cater to such travelers - you might enjoy following this
Twitter feed (latest tweets can be seen at the top of this page).
This Twitter feed is more about the importance of travel for our personal and
educational growth.
Basic Fund-Raising for Small
NGOs serving the developing world
This free document I developed. It provides very basic guidelines
for small NGOs in the developing world regarding
fund-raising, and points to other online resources. By small NGOs,
I mean organizations that may have only one paid staff member, or
are run entirely by volunteers; and may not have official
recognition by the government. This includes small NGOs and
government offices that want to develop tourism in a region.
Questions to Ask
for a Major Report from the Developing World
Most people who write reports about their projects in the
developing world rely heavily on field staff to provide
information. Often, however, field staff aren't expert report
writers, and struggle to provide meaningful, timely information in
a coherent written form. Many report writers get around this by
interviewing field staff about their work, so that needed
information is provided through answers to questions. This method
can also build the capacity of field staff to provide written
information themselves. This is a list of questions I
used to interview staff at an initiative in Afghanistan that
was focused on rural projects. I based these questions on previous
monthly and quarterly reports, suggestions from donors, the
initiatives stated objectives, and my own need for information
that could lead to stories in which the press might be interested.
Building Staff
Capacities to Communicate and to Present
Marketing and public relations is never just one person's
responsibility at an organization, regardless of everyone's job
titles; everyone at an organization will interact with other
staff, partner organizations, potential supporters and the general
public at some point. Therefore, everyone needs to be able to talk
or to write clearly about his or her own work and that of the
organization overall. This new resource describes various
activities I undertook to improve the communication capacities of
Afghan government staff. This resource links to various slide
presentations and materials used for this endeavor in Afghanistan
that can be adapted by others in different countries and
situations. Included is a workshop on helping women in strict
religious cultures to cultivate their presentation and public
speaking skills, a workshop and tip sheet to help staff write
better reports, and a slide presentation to help staff take photos
in the field that will serve a variety of communications and
reporting purposes.
Quick Links
Disclaimer: No guarantee of accuracy or suitability is made by
the poster/distributor. This material is provided as is, with no
expressed or implied warranty.
Permission is granted to copy, present and/or distribute a limited
amount of material from my web site without charge
if the information is kept intact and without alteration, and is
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me for permission to reprint, present or distribute
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The art work and
material on this site was created and is copyrighted
1996-2018
by Jayne Cravens, all rights reserved
(unless noted otherwise, or the art comes from a link to
another web site).
