Definition & Principles

Let’s focus on the definition and principles of a CBT.

In 1997, the REST (Responsible Ecological Social Tours), based in Thaïland, made their Community-Based Tourism Handbook which specifies that “CBT is tourism that takes environnemental, social and cultural sustainability into account. It is managed and owned by the community, for the community, with the purpose of enabling visitors to inscrease their awareness and learn about the community”.

The ideas evoked in this definition build the main principles of a CBT. These principles can be summarized by promoting community ownership, preserving the culture of local people and distributing benefits among community members.

The key elements to realize these principles are : a sustainable use of natural and cultural ressources, to build the community organization around the feeling of people that belong to their community, the management made by rules and regulations in order to link tourism and community development, and the last element is focused on learning which is the exchange between hosts and guests who learn from each other.