The tourism value chain and the prospect of pro-poor tourism in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.

Abstract

Pro-poor tourism has been adopted by a range of governments and non- governmental organisations (NGOs) as a key contributor to poverty alleviation strategies in developing countries. It is based on the principle that the poor should receive net benefits from participation in tourism (Ashley et al. 2001). However, there is a range of literature which challenges tourism’s claim to be a catalyst for poverty reduction. The aims of this research are to analyse the extent to which tourism contributes to poor households’ incomes and to examine the prospect of pro-poor tourism in the resort of Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh. Value chain analysis is employed to identify linkages and leakages and to measure the contribution of tourists’ expenditure to poor households’ incomes. Quantitative methods incorporating convenience and ad hoc techniques are used to gather primary data from a sample of 396 participants using structured close ended questionnaires. The results indicate that the average poverty headcount ratio is 0.36 and the contribution to poor households’ incomes from tourists’ expenditure is 4.8 per cent. However, there is significant variation in the level of contribution from different types of tourists and from different segments of the tourism value chain. The two main factors which determine the level of contribution to poor households from the tourism value chain are extent of linkages in supply chains and the number of poor people directly employed in businesses. The research findings indicate that the tourism value chain in Cox’s Bazar may be classified as pro-poor in that it contributes to poor households’ incomes. However further steps are required to develop a tourism value chain which incorporates the wider socio-cultural and political dimensions of pro-poor tourism. This research proposes a tourism value chain mapping model which integrates poor households and incorporates different tourism segments and actors in the informal as well as formal labour markets. It also contributes to knowledge in the field by proposing a framework which examines different impacts on poverty of income channels from domestic and international tourists and linkages to local formal and informal tourism value chains. Finally, this research will contribute to literature on the prospect of pro-poor tourism in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.