Alleviating Indigenous poverty through tourism: the role of NGOs

Abstract

Tourism is acknowledged as a tool through which communities can achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) highlighted as important development partners in this regard. This paper examines the role of NGOs in tourism-related poverty alleviation in the context of a rural Indigenous community in Bangladesh. Drawing on critical theory, a qualitative case study approach employed multiple methods including semi-structured interviews, focus group discussion and observation to analyse the NGO-tourism-Indigenous poverty nexus. Findings revealed that the sustainability of NGO project outcomes was affected by several issues, including: a limited community voice; community dependency upon NGOs; and the threat of community displacement. NGO interventions created some economic opportunities through facilitating the community’s tourism involvement, for example through the provision of microcredit and training. However, multiple stakeholders’ involvement and diverse goals complicated the enactment of an effective partnership (SDG17) for the community’s poverty alleviation (SDG1). The study concludes that NGOs need to go beyond service delivery and adopt an advocacy role in order to address some of the underlying structural inequities faced by such communities. This would enable NGOs, government agencies and communities to work together to better capitalise on tourism’s potential for Indigenous poverty alleviation.

Keywords:

• Indigenous poverty
• tourism
• NGOs
• sustainable development goals
• stakeholders
• Bangladesh

Acknowledgement

The study was supported by a University of Otago Doctoral Scholarship.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Md Ariful Hoque

Dr Md Ariful Hoque has received his PhD degree from the University of Otago, New Zealand in 2020. His research interests revolve around Indigenous and marginal community involvement in tourism centric businesses, and the role of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in facilitating and promoting tourism entrepreneurs for community economic development along with a focus on the social sustainability aspects of tourism micro-businesses.

Brent Lovelock

Dr Brent Lovelock is a Professor in the Department of Tourism and Co-Director of the Centre for Recreation Research at the University of Otago. His research focuses on destination management and community-based tourism; nature-based recreation and tourism (with a focus on consumptive wildlife tourism); and tourism ethics (with a focus on medical tourism).

Anna Carr

Dr Anna Carr is an Associate Professor in the Department of Tourism and Co-Director of the Centre for Recreation Research at the University of Otago. Her current research interests are focused on tourism and recreation in protected areas; cultural landscapes; and Indigenous/community tourism development.