The operational challenges of community-based tourism ventures in Swaziland

Abstract

Community-based tourism is increasingly being developed and promoted as a means of reducing poverty in developing countries, assisting local communities to meet their needs through the offering of a tourism product. The Swaziland Tourism Authority with the support of the European Union Fund has made significant contributions to the development of community-based tourism in Swaziland enabling rural communities to develop tourist attractions. However, whilst many community-based tourism ventures have been established in developing countries, their operations have not been monitored. The same scenario exists in Swaziland where, at the operational level, projects are completely left in the hands of the communities, these projects seem stagnant. It is apparent that most of these community-based tourism ventures are faced with a number of challenges at operational level. This study investigated the operational challenges facing community-based tourism ventures in Swaziland.

Keywords: Community-based tourism, community participation, operational challenges, Swaziland.