CRC Press Poverty Alleviation through Tourism Development: A Comprehensive and Integrated Approach (Advances in Hospitality and Tourism)

The book offers a comprehensive and integrated approach to the topic of tourism development and its contribution to the fight against poverty. Tourism development is credited to be a powerful source of regional development and improvement in developing countries, and the focus of the book is on the world’s poorest areas and how tourism connects to the poor and unlocks opportunities to escape the poverty trap. This book takes a comprehensive and unique approach by combining a decade of research on the effects of tourism development on poverty reduction in Latin America. The book explores poverty and its impact on development at the macro and micro levels. Then, it goes on to focus on tourism development and its effects on growth, inequality, and poverty reduction and how these dynamic relationships affect the most vulnerable groups of society. The research also documents on how the poor perceive tourism development on their lives and if they see it as an important vehicle to help them escape from poverty. Lastly, the authors map the conditions under which tourism can reach the poor and how tourism can offer opportunities for impoverished areas and their residents. Combining tourism dynamics, development economics, poverty reduction, business practices, and a sustainable perspective, the book takes a broad look at this important issue. The book will be informative and valuable to a higher educational audience, including academia and researchers, as well as practitioners, policymakers, and international organizations, and graduate students. Review "Robertico Croes and Manuel Rivera are crystal-clear as to what moves this book: a faith and hope that the poor can achieve a better life, and a trust that tourism has the potential to contribute to this feat. . . . This is an engaging read, and a timely publication. It has several merits, and throughout the more than 200 pages, the authors call on many voices, local people’s opinions and views, and numerous concrete examples, denoting a strong familiarity with Latin America. At the same time, the book is well-structured, providing a strong cumulative sense as the chapters unfold, and there is a clear sense of direction and progress in the discussion. Poverty alleviation continues to be a critical issue in many countries, and tourism continues to be one of the fastest-growing industries. Croes and Rivera undeniably contribute to our understanding of the mechanisms which make tourism development valuable for poverty alleviation in a holistic and comprehensive manner." ― Annals of Tourism Research, 2016 "This is one of the most important books ever written about tourism development. . . . A compelling read. . . . The book is an eloquent voice that speaks on behalf of the poor―most of whom are still waiting to experience positive, tourism-related lifestyle change. . . . It is written by expert researchers who live their research and who are passionately concerned about realities on the ground. "This ground-breaking book offers a truly innovative contribution to our understanding of the concept of sustainable and inclusive tourism development. It offers a comprehensive understanding of problems faced by the world’s poorest people and discusses ways of enabling them to participate in sustainable tourism development. It introduces innovative methodologies and approaches using interesting illustrations to systematically guide the reader through alternative approaches to responsible tourism development. This book is an engaging and compelling text. "―Richard Teare, PhD, Co-Founder and President, Global University for Lifelong Learning (GULL) "Croes and Rivera's work is comprehensive because their propositions based on contextual situations are made relevant in two different ways. Firstly, by demonstrating that the propositions can be examined in multiple contexts and secondly, by showing how tourism demand expansion has implications for poverty alleviation