Author Bios (50 Words for each Author)
Melphon Angwenyi Mayaka holds a PhD in Management from Monash Business School. He has research interests in: Tourism and development; Community-based tourism; Strategic issues in tourist destination management; and Tourism hospitality and events higher education.
Gary Lacey holds a PhD degree in Tourism from Monash Faculty of Business and Economics. He is a lecturer, Graduate Tourism Program at Monash University. His research includes philanthropic tourism, poverty alleviation, community-based tourism, customised HIV/AIDS education, terrorism, female empowerment, and community empowerment in Kenya and Botswana, as well as parks, cultural landscapes and tertiary education in Australia.
Christian M. Rogerson is Research Professor, School of Tourism & Hospitality, College of Business and Economics, University of Johannesburg, South Africa. His major research work concerns the nexus of tourism and sustainable development in Africa. Particular issues of concern relate to tourism and poverty alleviation, small enterprise development and local economic development.
Abstract (150 Words)
This paper explores the ‘alternative’ empowerment roles of catalyst, facilitator and advocate in community-based tourism in the context of community development practice, drawing on findings from four community-based tourism (CBT) ethnographic case studies in Kenya. The paper uncovers the ‘friend’ or ‘neighbour’ relationship as a possible combination of these roles, proposing that the various roles may be points or positions in a continuum, a relationship that develops over time. Arguably, these roles could be realized between a community and an individual from within or outside the community. It is further proposed that understanding the roles and the relationships provides possibilities for community empowerment and sustainable community development within CBT settings. The findings point towards opportunities for the enhancement of empowerment, either driven by deliberate efforts of development practitioners or brought about in non-deliberate, organic manner through collaborative work of a wide range of actors. Research in this area has the potential to contribute towards understanding the processes through which sustainable community development and public social policies affecting communities can achieve global agendas such as poverty alleviation, partnerships and sustainability in what are considered marginal areas.
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Empowerment through friendship: A process view of community-based tourism
This paper explores the ‘alternative’ empowerment roles of catalyst, facilitator and advocate in community-based tourism in the context of community development practice, drawing on findings from four community-based tourism (CBT) ethnographic case studies in Kenya. The paper uncovers the ‘friend’ or ‘neighbour’ relationship as a possible combination of these roles, proposing that the various roles may be points or positions in a continuum, a relationship that develops over time. Arguably, these roles could be realized between a community and an individual from within or outside the community. It is further proposed that understanding the roles and the relationships provides possibilities for community empowerment and sustainable community development within CBT settings. The findings point towards opportunities for the enhancement of empowerment, either driven by deliberate efforts of development practitioners or brought about in non-deliberate, organic manner through collaborative work of a wide range of actors. Research in this area has the potential to contribute towards understanding the processes through which sustainable community development and public social policies affecting communities can achieve global agendas such as poverty alleviation, partnerships and sustainability in what are considered marginal areas.
