Income drawn from Tourism: Methodological issues, link with Development

In the frame of his PhD research (Impacts of revenues from the accommodation sector on employees’ wellbeing and capabilities), Thierno Barry, member of Litotes (partner in the DEVINC project), presents here i) the economic -direct, indirect, induced-contribution of tourism (Dwyer & al,2010) ; ii) how tourism develops in Africa ; iii) to what extent tourism, and its various stakeholders (including multilateral organizations and private companies) has been increasingly considered as actor of development and of poverty reduction.

As a specialist in the field of Tourism, Dr. Isabelle Cloquet is associated researcher at the Litotes unit in ULB. Her presentation draws i) on the methodology she used during her PhD field study on the development dynamics of leisure tourism in Gabon; ii) on data from her study on the Mikongo Conservation Centre (Parc National de la Lopé, Gabon) where an Integrated Conservation and Development Project takes place.

When comparing good practices as identified by Blom & al, 2010 (linked to Project intrinsic characteristics, participation of locals and influence of alien factors) with the actual situation, she realizes merely 4 (out of 15) are totally satisfied, 4 are only partially satisfied and the remaining 8 are not met at all. In order to grasp what developmental income are all about, she concludes, 3 factors must be taken into account: the architecture and the values underlying the (resource exploitation) project; the context (local, regional, national) within which the project takes place; locals’ perceptions and viewpoints.