Towards a Tourism and Community-Development Framework: An African Perspective

Abstract

This article examines the perceptions of local people concerning the potential of tourism to alleviate poverty and bring about community development in the Manicaland Province, Zimbabwe. In-depth interviews, direct observations, and informal conversations were used to collect data in the four districts of Manicaland where there were functional community-based tourism (CBT) projects. After establishing a poverty criterion, data were collected from 43 local poor people in the four districts of the case study area. The results show that tourism development in Manicaland brought about community development through social, economic, environmental and cultural benefits. The authors suggest that there are interrelationships between tourism, poverty alleviation and community development. They show these interrelationships through a tourism and community-development framework which they developed based upon the results of the various methods of data collection used in this study.

1. Introduction

According to Przeclawski, “Tourism, in its broad sense, is the sum of the phenomena pertaining to spatial mobility, connected with a voluntary, temporary change of place, the rhythm of life and its environment, and involving a personal contact with the visited environment (natural, and/or cultural and/or social)” [1]. The past six decades have seen tourism becoming the largest and fastest growing economic sector of the world due to its continued expansion and diversification [2]. It generates economic benefits for most nations of the world [3,4,5]. Global international tourist arrivals were 1235 million in 2016 which generated tourism receipts of US $1220 billion and an additional US $216 billion in exports through international transport services. Africa, Asia and the Pacific regions recorded the strongest tourism growth in 2016 [2]. International tourist arrivals are forecasted to increase to 1.8 billion by 2030 [6], wherein 126 million tourists are expected to visit Africa [6]. In 2016, the tourism sector globally provided 109 million jobs directly [5]. In Africa, tourism development has been used to enhance communities’ economic and social well-being [7].

Although the role of tourism in economic development has an established legacy, its contribution to the development of host communities is arguably a recent and controversial topic in tourism and related literature [8,9,10,11]. This has led to the emergence of the community-based tourism (CBT) concept where local people have substantial control, are involved in its development and management, and where a major portion of the benefits remain within that community [12]. The ecological model of community tourism development is attributed to the concept of CBT [13]. It has been promoted as an alternative form of tourism, and has been adopted by governments and conservation non-governmental organisations (NGOs) as a means to reduce threats to protected areas and to improve the well-being of local communities.

The government of Zimbabwe (GoZ) has recognised the importance of CBT in their policy framework as shown by their national tourism policy which aims to empower host communities in managing their own tourism projects for them to maximise the benefits from tourism. To achieve the goal of poverty eradication, the Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry (MoTHI) decided to have a more noble inclination towards CBT, which takes into consideration that there must be tourism and community development at the same time.

This study, therefore, aims to present the views and perspectives of local people concerning the ability of tourism to alleviate poverty and bring about community development in Manicaland, Zimbabwe. It subsequently shows the interrelationships between tourism, poverty alleviation and community development through a developed tourism and community-development framework.

2. Understanding Key Concepts

In Africa, indigenous rural poor people are part of local communities, therefore, it is necessary to firstly examine the concept of community and its relevance to tourism studies. Other related concepts, including development, community development and poverty are also discussed.

2.1. The Community Concept

The term “community” is difficult to define [14,15] as it is loaded with contradictions and ambiguities [16,17]. The concept is claimed to be territorial or geographical [18,19,20]. Thus, examples of a community include a township, village, district or island. A community can also be a collection of people living within a relatively well-defined physical space, a strategic housing development, a neighbourhood, a rural village, or even a refugee camp [21,22]. Nonetheless, Bhattacharyya [23] argues that the term “community” transcends all boundaries of the settlement. Therefore, a community is difficult to identify [14].

A community can also be viewed as an economic unit where various social actors share common interests, control particular resources or practise similar economic activities to earn a livelihood [19,24]. As an economic unit, a community promotes its economic development as members analyse economic conditions, determine economic needs and unfulfilled opportunities, and then decide what should be done [24]. Nevertheless, a community can also be construed as a web of kinship—social and cultural relations—whereby people who share history, knowledge, beliefs, morals and customs stay together [17]. Such people may not, however, at times, necessarily occupy the same physical space or belong to the same economic interest group, but are still considered a community [17]. However, communities are homogenous despite the term implying a number of shared aspects [25,26].

The community concept is of vital importance to tourism studies as it involves visits to places and peoples [27]. Nevertheless, the community itself has become an object of tourism consumption, which, in turn, encourages some communities to reproduce themselves specifically for tourists [25,28,29].

2.2. The Development Concept

Development has been interpreted differently over time and in different contexts [30,31]. Early views of the concept included concerns for improving the situation of poor people in developing countries, rather than economic growth [32]. It is a participatory, people-centred process intended to reduce poverty and achieve better livelihoods for all [33]. The concept evolved chronologically through four main schools of thought since the 1950s: modernisation, dependency theory, alternative development and sustainable development [34].

Development is defined as “a multidimensional process leading to ‘good change’ and seen to embrace self-sufficiency, self-determination and empowerment, as well as improved standards of living” [35]. Development is concerned with how developing countries can improve their living standards and eliminate absolute poverty [31]. The development process involves the whole society, its economic, socio-cultural, political and physical structure, as well as the value system and way of life of people to be responsible for their own livelihoods, welfare and future [30,33]. Its early formulations focused primarily on economic matters, but the definitions have been broadened over time [36,37,38]. Increased living standards, improved health, well-being for all and the achievement of the general good for society at large are what development entails [39]. Development involves structural transformations which imply cultural, political, social and economic changes [37,38,40]. It transcends the singular notion of economic growth and involves all aspects of increased human welfare [25,41]. Development encompasses social, environmental and ethical considerations while its measurement may incorporate indicators of poverty, unemployment and inequality [37]. People’s freedom of choice is also an essential outcome of development [36].

Development should lead to improved quality of life (QOL) [42,43] which takes into consideration the socio-economic, political, cultural, ideological, environmental and living conditions of individuals or societies [44]. Infant mortality, life expectancy and basic literacy are the components that measure the physical quality of life index (PQLI) [42]. However, life expectancy is perceived as a limited measure of QOL as it is more about quantity than quality of life [36]. Likewise, since the PQLI overlooks crucial aspects such as freedom, justice and security, Morris [42] considers it as limited. As a result, Czapinski [45] proposes eight indicators of QOL: social capital (e.g., community participation in government elections), psychological well-being (e.g., a sense of happiness), physical well-being (e.g., disability and acute diseases), social well-being (e.g., loneliness), the civilisation level (e.g., level of education), material well-being (e.g., household income), stress in life (e.g., stress related to finance) and pathology (e.g., drug abuse). The United Nations’ (UN) human development index (HDI) is the agreed global measure of QOL that is based on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, education and life expectancy.

Development has also been construed as a philosophy [36], a process through which societies change from one condition to a better one, an outcome of the process, and activities that support the process [34]. It is not the same as growth [44,45,46,47,48] since it is more about quality [19], whereas growth focuses more on quantity such as more jobs, housing, medical services and educational facilities [19,36,48]. Therefore, growth can occur without development and vice versa [24,48]. Development facilitates as well as influences the kind and amount of growth a community experience. Thus, development guides and directs growth outcomes [48].

The development concept may have a built-in Western bias since Western societies are often viewed as being developed in contrast to other countries, which are seen as lacking development [37]. As a result, Binns and Nel [49,50] support non-Western forms of local economic development (LED), arguing that the failure of successive generations of imported, Western development strategies and projects (to deliver meaningful reductions in poverty and achieve basic needs in Africa) has provoked debates over Western concepts of and approaches to development. They, however, suggest not to abandon external involvement in the development process but to incorporate LED in development initiatives for Africa. Therefore, development initiatives should incorporate indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) of the local people as well as empower them, which calls for an African perspective.

2.3. Community Development

The concept of community development can be traced back to the 1950s [21]. The term “community development” originated in Africa, where it was first used by administrators concerned primarily with Africa [16]. Historically, community development tended to focus on issues such as equal rights, institutional organisation and political processes, and not on jobs, income or business growth that were actually the focus of economic development [24].

Community development is a process in which community members collaborate in taking collective action as well as in developing solutions to common problems facing them while engaging in policy making, planning, programme development and evaluation [51]. Craig [21] regards community development as the empowerment of local communities since it strengthens the capacity of people. It is claimed to “play a crucial role in supporting active domestic life by promoting the autonomous voice of disadvantaged and vulnerable communities” [21].

Similarly, community development is viewed as a process of empowerment and transformation [52,53] and participation is its essential principle [54]. Nonetheless, Bhattacharyya [23,55] adds self-help and felt-needs as the other two crucial principles in community development, wherein self-help means self-reliance and independence of others. Self-help mobilises people’s cultural and material assets, such as indigenous technical knowledge, tools and labour [55]. Felt-needs stand for relevance and priority of the problems as the people see them. It is the recognition of the rights of the people and is a limit to the powers of the outside intervener [23]. Felt-needs resist development that is top-down whilst both self-help and felt-needs are essential principles that facilitate participation [55]. Community development helps to preserve aspects of local culture and assists in maintaining and enhancing social cohesion [52]. A developed community is both improved and empowered [56].

Due to its contribution to national economies and the ability to unify local communities, tourism is seen as a tool of community development [57]. Thus, many communities have turned to tourism as a means of development. In many least developed countries (LDCs), tourism is even considered a tool of poverty alleviation [58].

2.4. Poverty in Communities

The world has about 2 billion people living in poverty [59] and a majority of them (70%) are found in Southern Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa [60,61]. Thus, The Commission for Africa [62] states that “African poverty is the greatest tragedy of our time”. Most of the poor people worldwide stay in rural areas [60]. Poverty is a multidimensional concept which entails powerlessness, inequality, exclusion, vulnerability, relative deprivation and marginalisation [60]. Combating poverty is a critical step towards bringing about community development. The conceptualisation and measurement of poverty have been a topic of substantial debate [63] and it has evolved over time as summarised in

Table 1. The evolution and measurement of the poverty concept.

Period	Concept of Poverty	Measurement of Poverty
1950s	Economic	GDP growth
1960s	Economic	Per capita GDP growth
1970s	Basic needs including economic	Per capita GDP growth plus basic needs
1980s	Economic and capabilities	Per capita GDP and rise of non-monetary factors
1990s	Human development and economic	UNDP Human Development Indices
2000–2015	Multidimensional (rights, freedom, livelihoods)	Millennium Development Goals Multidimensional Poverty Index
2016 to present	Multidimensional	Sustainable Development Goals Multidimensional Poverty Index

Sources: Bourguignon and Chakravarty, Sumner, Townsend, UN [64,65,66,67].

.

In the 1950s, economic growth dominated the definition of poverty, and development was equated with economic growth [68]. Trickle-down effects were assumed to have the capacity to bring about economic growth, which would reduce poverty [65,68]. This was an era of “high development theory” and poverty was measured by GDP [65].

In the 1960s, the level of income became the main focus of poverty [69]. GDP per capita and not just GDP growth became the measurement of poverty [65]. The basic needs concept of Seers [41] expanded the notion of poverty as he argued that per capita income does not indicate a reduction in poverty or unemployment. This shaped the 1970s poverty definitions that incorporated basic needs, including food, shelter and clothing, and the means to acquire them through employment [65]. As statistics failed to show that the benefits of economic growth were trickling down, this has increased interest in the basic needs approach [65,68].

By the 1970s, the notion of poverty became viewed, not only as economical, but also as a lack of basic needs due to the contribution from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) [69]. Measurements of poverty took no account of income or economic well-being alone as it included basic needs [47,65].

New complexities emerged in the 1980s concerning the concept of poverty [69]. Non-monetary aspects were incorporated into poverty [70], such as isolation and powerlessness, whilst the World Bank’s 1980 report [71] characterised poverty by nutrition, education and health. The concept of poverty by now included capabilities on top of the usual economic aspects. Capabilities are factors other than income, such as literacy and life expectancy [64]. The term “well-being” was also coined during this time [65] and this renewed interest in economic plus non-economic components of well-being. This could be attributed to the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Human Development Report (HDR) containing a new concept of human development as wells as new indicators such as the Human Development Index (HDI) [65]. However, the measurement of poverty remained GDP per capita despite the rise in HDIs.

The 1990s were shaped by the UNDP’s HDR, which was launched in 1990, and Sen’s writings [72,73,74]. Sen [74] argues that well-being is not based on GDP per capita as previously conceived, as it does not account for the physical condition of the individual. Besides economic, poverty became conceptualised through human development. The UNDP’s various HDIs, multidimensional poverty index (MPI), Gender Inequality Index (GII), Gender Development Index (GDI) and the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI) became the significant measurement of poverty. The indices take into account three leading indicators: health, knowledge and standard of living [75]. The HDI has been preferred over the per capita income, as the former captures many aspects of the human condition [76]. However, Sumner [65] argues that these indices are only a partial application of Sen’s [74] research on well-being as they do not incorporate the full range of the conditions of well-being. For example, being sheltered is not included.

In 2000, the World Development Report (WDR) re-emphasised the multifaceted nature of poverty by including social indicators [65,68]. The launch of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the same year, of which the first goal focused on eradicating extreme poverty and hunger by 2015, highlighted the importance of eradicating poverty on a global scale [77]. The MDGs comprised eight goals that had 18 targets and were time bound, quantified whilst also addressing extreme poverty in its many dimensions [78]. The MDGs incorporated indicators of income poverty, education and gender equality. The MDGs and the MPI became the key measurement methods of poverty. The MPI identifies multiple deprivations at household level in education, health and standard of living, and uses micro data and all indicators from the same household surveys to come up with more deprived and less deprived people [79]. By 2015, it was widely accepted that the MDGs had succeeded in bisecting extreme global poverty from 1.9 billion in 1990 to 836 million [80]. However, Kamruzzaman [81] posits that in Africa the situation of poverty has not changed, whilst South Asia still has a long way to go. On the other hand, the Spicker [82] argues that the MDGs approach is dominated by interests of the north whilst issues of poverty eradication should be a compromise of the south and the north.

The UN moved from the MDGs to the SDGs in September 2015. There is a set of 17 universal goals and 169 targets where no poverty is the first goal [83,84]. The SDGs have their foundation on the MDGs and seek to complete what the MDGs did not achieve [83]. They emphasise the combination and balance of the three dimensions of sustainable development: economic, social and environmental [83]. The main target of the first goal is to eliminate people living on less than US $1.90 a day (absolute poverty) by 2030 through a triple bottom line approach (TBL) to human well-being [85,86]. The TBL approach incorporates three dimensions of performance: financial, social and environmental [27,87]. Some of the targets of the first goal of the SDGs are included to ensure the poor have equal rights to natural and economic resources and to reduce their exposure and vulnerability to climate-related extreme events and other economic, social and environmental shocks [83]. Thus, the SDGs stress the multidimensionality of poverty. SDGs and MPI have become the key measurements of poverty. Some scholars [88,89,90] criticise the SDGs for having non-quantified targets, for having conflicts between goals and targets, and for being unmeasurable and unmanageable.

Poverty is often divided into absolute poverty and relative poverty [91]. The former means that a person is unable to meet his/her basic needs, whereas the latter means that a person’s needs are not fulfilled in comparison to the rest of his/her society [91,92]. The WB and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) consider people who earn less than US $1 a day to be absolutely poor. This measurement has been revised from time to time to become US $1.08 in 1993 [93,94], US $1.25 in 2005 [95] and US $1.90 in 2011, which is currently being used [96]. Critics of the US $1 per day measure argue that it captures only those people who are impoverished by the standards of poor countries and extremely, desperately poor by Western standards [97], whereas it tells little about people’s perceptions and experiences of poverty [98]. The measure has also been criticised for being “money metric” and suggestions have been made to take into account other non-income aspects such as nutrition, health and other indicators to have a holistic measurement and definition [99,100]. Kamruzzaman [81] questions why the measurement has to be globally accepted whilst poverty means different things and takes various dimensions in different countries. However, the measure has become the most popular method of communicating international progress on poverty alleviation despite the noted setbacks [97].

The start of the new millennium marked a new perspective in fighting poverty as the WB adopted empowerment as one of its primary strategies in alleviating poverty in its 2000/2001 WDR. The WB [101] advocates for the participation of the poor in economic, social and institutional aspects as these have an influence on their lives. Some scholars [102,103,104,105] concur that participation and empowerment are critical to poverty alleviation as most development initiatives have failed because they ignore indigenous knowledge and local participation. Poverty is perceived as a culture that has its own norms and values which are pathological and require social work, psychiatry or education to break them in order for poverty reduction strategies to succeed among poor people and communities [106]. The link between tourism and community development is discussed next.

3. Tourism and Community Development

The role of tourism in community development and poverty alleviation can be traced through the past five decades [98]. In the 1950s to 1960s, the expectation was that tourism could contribute to modernisation, and benefits could trickle down to the poor [107,108]. Tourism was essentially equated with development [109,110,111]. During that period, tourism benefits were unquestionable [112]. The 1970s literature was dominated by top-down approaches to development, which did not result in the expected economic improvement and social benefits, but rather dependency, inefficiency and slower economic growth [98,107]. The 1980s to 1990s witnessed the rise of environmental awareness and a focus on local participation in development approaches [107]. In the 2000s, efforts were made to better link tourism with poverty reduction in LDCs, particularly in light of the MDGs [98,107] and the new SDGs [84].

However, many scholars have questioned the benefits of tourism, arguing that lower multiplier effects and higher levels of leakages were closer to reality [29,110,113]. It has, thus, become clear that economic growth did not “trickle-down” to benefit poor people [58]. Most of the negative impacts which include damage to the natural environment, local communities and cultures were attributed to mass tourism [114,115]. Given these negative impacts, alternative forms of tourism were sought which are characterised by small-scale and locally owned and controlled operations [58,116,117]. A number of alternative forms of tourism have been proposed, and some of them include ecotourism, sustainable tourism, green tourism, responsible tourism, community-based tourism and other tourism types characterised by small-scale and locally owned and controlled operations [58,116,117]. Ecotourism was initially the most preferred form of alternative tourism, but it failed to deliver the expected benefits to indigenous communities due to the lack of mechanisms for fair distribution [118]. It was also criticised for being nature-dominated where residents were denied access to protected areas [118]. As a result, another form of alternative tourism was called for, leading to the emergence of CBT which recognises the need to promote both the quality of life of local people and the conservation of community resources [119]. It is discussed in detail below.

3.1. Community-Based Tourism

Despite criticisms of ecotourism, it took its proponents some time to acknowledge that the concept’s main concern was the environment [120]. Thus, some scholars and organisations [12,119,121] suggest the term “community-based ecotourism” which distinguishes environmentally sensitive ecotourism from a community-oriented type of tourism where a significant proportion of the benefits remain in the community. Robinson and Wiltshier [122] argue that communities, where the impacts of tourism are most felt, should get the benefits.

Likewise, participants of the 1995 World Conference on Sustainable Tourism recognised tourism’s positive contribution to socio-economic and cultural achievement and agreed that it also meets the economic expectations of the local communities [123]. Similarly, the UN resolution 69/233 on the promotion of sustainable tourism development, including ecotourism, for poverty reduction and environmental protection states that tourism has the potential to alleviate poverty by improving community members’ individual livelihoods as well as generating resources for community development projects. The charter also emphasises the need for tourism to protect the environment and improve the well-being of indigenous people and communities [124].

The concept of CBT dates back to the alternative development approaches of the 1970s [125,126,127,128,129,130,131,132]. CBT aims to create a more sustainable tourism industry, focusing on the host communities in terms of planning and maintaining tourism activities [133]. The underlying principles of CBT are derived from the concept of community development, which entails a small-scale, locally oriented and holistic approach to economic growth and social change [121]. Canada’s Government of the Northwest Territories was arguably the first to advance a CBT development strategy in its territory [134]. CBT has since been promoted around the world, especially in developing countries, as a means of poverty reduction and community development [129,134,135]. It has since evolved from the simple practice of visiting other people and places through the overt utilisation of resources to seeking out residents’ responses to tourism experiences [120].

Most CBT projects were initially related to small rural communities and nature conservation through ecotourism, but the concept has since been extended to embrace a range of tourism products such as local culture and folklore, gastronomy and traditional handcrafts [136]. In some locations, hunting may be included as an appropriate activity, provided that there are careful research and control within a management plan that supports conservation and use of local knowledge [12].

CBT is a debated term [12,126,136,137,138,139] and therefore difficult to define. “The definition of what CBT is, who defines it, or where the community ends and the individual interests start, are questions of debate per se” [136]. CBT is “a form of tourism where the local community has substantial control over, and involvement in, its development and management, and a major proportion of the benefits remain within the community” [12]. Likewise, Lucchetti and Font [127] view CBT as "tourism that involves community participation and aims to generate benefits for local communities in the developing world by allowing tourists to visit these communities and learn about their culture and the local environment." Mayaka et al. [126] provide a more detailed definition, wherein CBT is "tourism within a given community that facilitates levels of community participation and scale that provides desired outcomes and in which members exercise power and control without ignoring the influence of external economic, socio-cultural, political and environmental factors." Community participation can mean a level of control, ownership or influence in a tourism initiative [140]. Overall, these definitions emphasise that the benefits of CBT should accrue to the host communities. Therefore, CBT is about grassroots empowerment, and it seeks to develop the industry in harmony with the needs and aspirations of host communities [141].

The CBT concept is termed differently depending on the context where it is used. These include “community-based ecotourism” (CBET) [12,119,121,142,143], “community tourism” [141,144], “sustainable tourism” [145], “indigenous tourism” [29,146,147], “rural tourism” [25,27,148,149,150] and “community-based natural resource management” (CBNRM) [151,152,153]. Confusion about CBT could be attributed to the various tourism forms associated with it by different authors writing on the subject [140]. However, these concepts are common in that they emphasise that tourism should generate benefits for and not incur costs or burden to host communities and the local environment [145,154,155].

Although Singh et al. [120] cite CBT as an example of a tourism form which provides a win-win scenario between tourism and communities, some scholars [155] posit that the literature on CBT is full of claims but short on data and quantitative analysis. Although CBT may bring some benefits to the host community, it has been critiqued as following technocratic strategies of tourism development associated with Western-based ideology without considering the African perspective. Disadvantaged communities are involved in tourism development only in rhetoric, and although movement from rhetoric to action is possible, tourism development remains within a Western-based understanding [138]. There is a range of both opportunities and threats which indigenous people may encounter if they are involved in tourism [28]. Generally, poor communities expect the best from tourism development and respect for their culture and dignity [135].

Other scholars [135,136] argue that despite emphasising a bottom-up approach, CBT has often been used by development actors, and consequently, it turns out to be a top-down model. This has resulted in a lack of community control over CBT projects and the overuse of Western values [135]. On the other hand, Beeton [27] posits that CBT neither conforms anymore to the transformative intent of community development nor focuses on community empowerment. It is argued that “the reality in practice for CBT has not often matched the ideals in principle; thus, it could be argued that true CBT has not been implemented” [156].

Community-Based Tourism Models

A number of CBT models have been developed in the literature. Okazaki’s [157] model assesses the status of community participation in tourism using levels of community participation and power redistribution. Three degrees are proposed, namely non-participation (therapy and manipulation), degree of tokenism (placation, information and consultation), and degree of citizen power (citizen control, delegated power and partnership) [157]. Social capital is formed gradually in the processes, which creates synergies within and between communities and thereby contributes to enhancing destination sustainability [157].

Meanwhile, Zapata et al. [136] identify two models: bottom-up and top-down CBT wherein bottom-up CBT is a result of a local initiative and is characterised by accelerated growth with a strong focus on the domestic markets. Bottom-up CBT projects generate higher rates of employment and economic benefits as there are trickle-down effects on the broader community. In contrast, top-down CBT is created and fully funded by external organisations. It is characterised by low stagnated growth and long-haul tourism markets. However, community participation, wealth distribution, gender equity and environmental awareness are better achieved in top-down CBT due to the influence of development organisations, although it is perceived as a new form of colonialism [136].

Mtapuri and Giampiccoli [158] developed a CBT model that has the ability to spread benefits to the community and foster community development. They argue that to promote holistic community development, the CBT enterprises must be entirely controlled by local people to avoid domination by the external actors [158]. The model proposes two primary forms of preferred CBT: a single, community-owned structure (type 1) and multiple small enterprises under a common organisational umbrella (type 2). Type 1 has a potential for community empowerment and self-reliance. For type 2, the community umbrella organisation located within the community manages the community’s business [158]. As the model advocates for local control, it is a bottom-up CBT, as suggested by Zapata et al. [134].

Giampiccoli et al. [159] came up with an “E” model of CBT after reviewing the literature. First, “endogenous” emphasises local indigenous effort that relies on local resources and cultures. Second, “environment” refers to issues regarding health, sanitation in the sense of environment and available infrastructures. Third, “education” refers to increases in skills and education related to CBT and tourism in general. Fourth, “empowerment” entails holistic empowerment, which embraces economic, psychological, social and political empowerment. Fifth, “equity” refers to equal distribution of benefits and resources amongst the wider society. Sixth, “evolving” means adapting to change based on changing conditions and opportunities. Seventh, “enduring” refers to long-term sustainability in various aspects such as cultural, economic, environmental and social. Eighth, “entrepreneurship” considers all the entrepreneurial characteristics.

All the discussed models emphasise the provision of employment, infrastructure development, empowerment of local communities, community participation and a bottom-up approach. They also recognise the presence of external partners but argue that this should be planned strategically to minimise leakages outside of the community [135]. Mtapuri and Giampiccoli [158] and Giampiccoli et al. [159] are aware that communities are heterogeneous and thus note that these models may be adapted to fit in with specific local contexts. Likewise, Snyman [26] calls for CBT guidelines for specific communities and cultural groups.

Although the models recognise the potential of CBT for poverty alleviation in poor communities, this has been a contested issue. Mitchell and Muckosy [160] posit that poverty and vulnerability are rarely relieved by CBT. In contrast, Balint and Mashinya [161] and Lapeyre [162] from their research (the former in Zimbabwe and the latter in Namibia) discovered that there were benefits to the locals through the provision of employment, social services and income distribution to households which helped to improve their well-being. However, the same scholars concur that the challenge is the sustainability of the projects, as in both cases, the situation changed for the worst after the withdrawal of external support by development organisations.

The models also recognise the presence of external actors but none of them offer suggestions as to how CBT projects should continue when external funders withdraw. They collapse due to the fact that community members are not directly linked to mainstream tourism [124,160,162,163]. In some instances, it could be a lack of impartation of skills and knowledge as Holden [164] emphasises the importance of training programmes for the local people in tourism. In bottom-up CBT, donors and NGOs bring customers based on their knowledge, resources and networks without introducing the local people to the markets [135]. Their withdrawal results in the CBT projects losing customers. Mitchell and Muckosy [160] conclude that “sizeable and sustainable transfer of benefits from affluent tourists to poor communities is possible in CBT only if practitioners recognise that it is linkages with, and not protection from, the mainstream industry that benefits poor communities”. Efforts to link tourism and poverty reduction led to the emergence of the pro-poor tourism (PPT) approach [165] which is discussed below.

3.2. Pro-Poor Tourism

Alongside CBT, PPT is also claimed to bring about development and help reduce poverty in tourist destinations [166]. It was first introduced in 1999, out of a desk review conducted by Deloitte and Touche, the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) [166]. PPT is defined as:

Tourism interventions that aim to increase the net benefits for the poor from tourism, and ensure that tourism growth contributes to poverty reduction. PPT is not a specific product or sector of tourism, but an approach. PPT strategies aim to unlock opportunities for the poor—whether for economic gain, other livelihood benefits, or participation in decision making.

[167]

Due to its ability to increase net benefits for the poor, PPT has the capacity to promote linkages between the tourism industry and the poor [164]. It is different from other types of tourism in that it has poverty as its key focus [164].

Since PPT is not a product but an approach that seeks to bring benefits to poor people, any tourism attraction or product can meet PPT objectives [164,167,168]. Due to this view, PPT strategies risk failing to address poverty alleviation as the rich might benefit more [164,169]. Some scholars [167,168,170,171,172] argue that the view does not address distributive justice since more affluent people may benefit more than poor people. Questions are also raised about whether sex tourism should be regarded as PPT if it can bring net income to the poor [166,169,172]. In contrast, Thomas [39] is of the opinion that tourism does not have to be pro-poor or anti-poverty to improve the well-being of communities.

Although proponents of PPT argue that tourism has the capacity to contribute to pro-poor growth in developing countries [167], some scholars [170,173] contend that this is questionable as research shows that Western countries receive the highest number of international tourist arrivals. PPT’s potential to promote pro-poor growth is debatable, given that its initiatives focus on international tourism instead of domestic tourism, leading to leakages since tour companies from generating countries benefit more than destination communities [29,113,170,174,175,176,177,178]. As Bennet et al. [179] state, “a focus on international tourism missed the potential to enhance the benefits of tourism for the poor”.

Expanding employment opportunities is one of the strategies of PPT, although the jobs might be low-paying [180]. Scheyvens [171] questions the ability of low-paying jobs to alleviate poverty, whereas other authors [181] posit that paying low wages is as good as making the poor remain poor. Tourism jobs are seasonal, and this results in unstable income for the poor [171]. Most tourism jobs are menial without giving poor people opportunities for promotion as high-ranking positions are assigned to expatriates [171,182]. In addition, long working hours, employment of underage workers and verbal abuse are other attributes of employment in the tourism industry [170]. Given that poverty is not only a lack of income but also encompasses freedom, dignity and self-esteem, encouraging the creation of low-paying jobs that offer unfavourable working conditions run counter to the view of PPT [167,171]. Instead of aiming at only job creation, PPT should focus on working conditions, job quality and reasonable wages so as to promote pro-poor growth [181].

Mitchell and Ashley [183] propose three pathways by which the benefits of tourism can be transmitted to the poor. The first pathway entails the direct effects of tourism which include both income and other forms of earnings (jobs in hotels and taxis for transfers) as well as direct non-financial effects such as improved infrastructure. The second pathway refers to secondary effects of tourism on the poor such as crafts, farm products, employment during construction of tourism-related infrastructure and tourism industry workers re-spending their earnings in the local economy. The third pathway involves long-term changes in the economy and growth experienced in the macro economy. However, Holden [164] argues that although these pathways can be useful in elaborating how the poor can be affected by tourism, they do not mean much in terms of reducing poverty as there is a need to provide the poor with access to opportunities.

Proponents of PPT have also been criticised for being divided over strategies as well as having different backgrounds and values [167]. Major stakeholders are the World Trade Organisation (WTO), World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) and Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV), among others [167,170,171]. It is argued that most development agencies promote PPT just because it is congruent with their pro-poor growth agenda and not because it has the capacity to genuinely alleviate poverty, whereas some tourism organisations promote PPT for their self-interest in tourism development [170]. Some consultants, researchers and companies who are involved in PPT initiatives are after financial benefits [174]. The UK Department for International Development (DFID) commissioned a study on the possibilities of the tourism industry to contribute to poverty reduction in 1999. Influential development organisations such as SNV, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Asian Development Bank (ADB), and Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) also invested in other research projects and initiatives [108]. The involvement of such organisations motivates some researchers and consultants to be involved in PPT for financial gains [108]. As a result, PPT has been perceived as another form of neo-liberalism that promotes the interest of the consumers at the expense of poor people’s interest [165,170,174]. It has also been criticised for ignoring the urban poor whilst focusing mainly on the rural poor [167]. The effectiveness of PPT strategies has not been proven as its target is on the wrong markets which have denied net benefits to the poor [177,184].

The major weakness of PPT is the lack of quantitative data to demonstrate the impacts of tourism on poor communities [98,164,183,185,186,187,188]. Most literature on PPT has aimed at assessing strategies that can be implemented to expand impacts on the poor whilst neglecting measuring the impacts. Thus, the pro-poor potential of tourism tends to be overstated [183]. Snyman [26] argues that tourism’s claim to share benefits with rural communities through trickle-down effects is not easy to measure and that no multi-country study has attempted to validate these claims. However, Gascón [189] argues that tourism has the potential to increase net income in a community, albeit at the expense of the absolute poor.

A number of researchers have attempted to quantify the impact of tourism on poverty alleviation through a variety of epistemological, methodological, theoretical frameworks and approaches [190]. The common ones are value chain analysis [108,191,192,193,194], assessment of tourism impacts [26,195] and governance and biodiversity conservation [196,197].

However, recently, an alternative approach has been advocated, which seeks the perspectives and expectations of poor people in relation to tourism and poverty alleviation. Some scholars [98,164,172,198,199] argue that valuing experiences and perspectives of those who are experiencing poverty can be useful in coming up with more meaningful strategies and approaches to alleviate poverty through tourism that are more likely to succeed. Likewise, Holden [164] contends that “there is a need for interpretive research to produce richer and more complex understandings of the experiences of the poor and also their perceptions of tourism as a means to improve their livelihoods”.

4. Background on Manicaland Province

Manicaland Province largely covers the eastern highlands and the south-eastern plateau of Zimbabwe with an area of 36,459 km² [200]. It is bordered by Mashonaland East Province to the north, The Republic of Mozambique to the east, Masvingo Province to the south, and Midlands Province to the west. Manicaland is one of the 10 administrative provinces of Zimbabwe, whose provincial capital is Mutare. Administratively, the province has seven districts (Figure 1).

The province’s economy is mostly centred on diamond and gold mining, timber, tea, coffee plantations and tourism [202].

4.1. Poverty in Manicaland

Although Manicaland has abundant natural resources including diamonds and gold, 70% of its people are living in absolute poverty [203]. It is believed that 1.2 million people in this province live below the poverty datum line [204], and that poverty is high in rural areas. Despite the absence of consistent poverty records, the poverty rate reportedly declined from 73.1% in 2001 to 70.6% in 2011 [205,206,207]. The 2011 prevalence rate has remained constant until 2015 [206,207]. As seen in

Table 2. Manicaland’s poverty prevalence by district (2012).

Chipinge	Mutasa	Buhera	Chimanimani	Nyanga	Makoni	Mutare
86.2%	78.9%	78%	76%	73.7%	68.2%	60.7%

Source: Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT) [208].

, poverty rates are high across all of the districts.

As Table 2 shows, Chipinge district has the highest poverty rate. However, where there is irrigation, the poverty rate tends to be lower due to farming activities [207]. Although the Mutasa district has better infrastructure than the other districts [202], it has the second highest poverty rate. Buhera district is in third place with 78%. All the wards in Buhera have a high poverty rate due to low rainfall [207]. Chimanimani district has a lower poverty rate than Buhera, with 76%. Semi-urban areas in Chimanimani district have lower poverty rates than rural areas [207]. Although the overall poverty rate of Nyanga is 73.7%, the poverty rates vary in the various wards. This variation could be because all of the five agro-ecological regions in Zimbabwe are located in the district [207]. In Makoni district, which has the sixth highest poverty rate, poverty is most prevalent in Ward 31 [207]. The poverty rate is also high in rural Mutare [207].

ZIMSTAT’s 2015 [208] survey showed that there are 2883 operating businesses in Manicaland. Of these, 179 are accommodation and food services. The survey also revealed that a total of 32,043 people were employed (22,852 as full-time, 5054 as part-time and 4138 as casual workers) [208]. Despite having quite a number of operating businesses, the main source of livelihood in Manicaland is farming, and the crops grown vary by district.

4.2. Tourism Development in Manicaland

Evidence suggests that tourism in Manicaland began in the 1890s upon the arrival of the Pioneer Column in Mutare, which led to the establishment of the first European settlement in the province [203]. By 1895, the British South African Company (BSAC) had begun the erection of infrastructure as Mutare had developed as a market centre prompting the opening of four hotels, some shops, banks, schools, and churches. The laying of the railway line in 1895 facilitated easier access to the province for travellers and businesspeople [203].

The province is endowed with various natural and man-made attractions. Nonetheless, access to the province has been hampered by poor road networks [204,209]. There are no scheduled luxury coaches or passenger trains, which can be used as an alternative by tourists. The province is also inaccessible by air despite having 16 registered aerodromes as they are not functional and are in a dilapidated state [210].

There are a number of accommodation establishments that cater to tourists. Over the past years, the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) has been recording the total number of rooms based on registered establishments (

Table 3. Manicaland’s total registered accommodation rooms (2005–2017).

Year	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Total rooms	671	671	696	-	714	714	714	781	781	781	781	781	781
Total beds	1350	1350	1511	-	1389	1389	1389	1535	1535	1535	1535	1535	1535

Source: Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) [211].

).

Regardless of the harsh economic conditions experienced by the country for two decades, the total number of rooms and beds in the province increased from 671 to 781 between 2005 and 2012 and this number has remained constant up to 2017 (Table 2). This could be attributed to the use of the United States dollar as an official currency, which helped stabilise the economy [212,213]. However, other establishments continued to face challenges, such as the Inn on Rupurura in Nyanga that was closed in 2017 due to declining tourist arrivals [214].

Despite the many attractions and several hotels rated three stars or better, there is no tour operator that is based in the province. Several tour operators that offer tours to Manicaland are either based in Harare or Victoria Falls. The process of registering a tour business in the country is laborious, especially for those outside Harare. A tour operator requires several licences which range between 7 to 13, and all the government departments which handle the licence applications are based in Harare [212]. Most of these departments have not embraced technology, with only the ZTA recently having launched the online application.

There is no consistent recording of tourist arrivals for the whole province. The ZTA has been publishing tourist arrivals for national parks as well as tourist arrivals to the Vumba Botanical Gardens only (

Table 4. Manicaland Province’s tourist arrivals (1999–2015).

Year	Nyanga National Park		Chimanimani National Park		Vumba Botanical Gardens		Total
	Domestic	International	Domestic	International	Domestic	International
1999	15,327	2601	6200	5151	9281	4214	42,774
2000	20,471	1006	2979	909	7840	3425	16,159
2001	26,620	836	4670	1215	5769	1637	40,747
2002	20,428	424	1656	189	2039	268	25,004
2003	18,812	11	-	-	-	-	18,823
2004	1,525,040	65	-	-	-	-	1,525,105
2005	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2006	12,142	-	805	-	2011	-	14,958
2007	12,330	-	419	-	1880	-	14,629
2008	17,947	-	-	-	3526	-	21,473
2009	11,792	-	1427	-	1322	-	14,541
2010	11,158	-	877	-	1937	-	13,972
2011	-	-	2324	-	2136	-	4460
2012	21,454	416	535	-	3172	396	26,973
2013	1704	85	1997	405	2473	337	7001
2014	23,882	598	3383	666	3074	399	32,002
2015	20,675	467	4712	662	3405	412	30,333

Source: Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) [211].

).

The total number of tourists to the province over the years is difficult to ascertain due to the absence of consistent records. Nevertheless, the province is popular with domestic tourists (Table 3). This could be due to the lack of airline connectivity which is exacerbated by bad roads to most attractions. Only 8% of the international tourists to Zimbabwe visit Manicaland, with Germany being the biggest generator. Other notable tourist-generating countries include Britain, France, and the United States of America (USA). South Africans and Namibians prefer to self-drive [215]. Despite receiving just 8% of the international tourists to Zimbabwe, the service industry is the second biggest employer in the province after agriculture. The methodology used in this study is discussed next.

5. Research Methodology

Data were collected from functional CBT projects in the four districts of Manicaland Province (Chipinge, Chimanimani, Mutare, Nyanga) through in-depth interviews, direct observations and informal conversations. The interviewees’ responses were recorded by a voice recorder as it is considered more accurate in capturing the responses than note-taking [216]. During the direct observations and informal conversations, notes and pictures were taken to enrich the interview data. A poverty criterion was established where three categories of poor people were identified for the purpose of this study: (i) those employed in low-level positions in the formal tourism sector and CBT projects, (ii) those who informally were employed in tourism and sold crafts and curios to tourists and (iii) those who were not employed.

Snowball sampling and opportunistic or emergent sampling were used to identify the interviewees because the target population was difficult to access [217]. The researchers first identified various stakeholders who are involved with CBT development in Zimbabwe. These include the Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry (MoTHI) staff, the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) staff, the National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (NPWLMA) employees and the Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) director. These stakeholders provided contact details of community leaders who would assist the researchers with contact details of community leaders who would again assist the researchers in identifying potential respondents in the communities. At the ZTA, the researchers were also given the latest database of all functional CBT projects across the country so that functional projects in Manicaland could be identified. Research entities such as the Centre for Applied Social Sciences (CASS) and the University of Zimbabwe’s Department of Tourism were also visited to get more contact details of possible respondents as well as advise on how best to approach rural communities when doing research.

The researchers also used opportunistic or emergent sampling which involves taking advantage of unforeseen opportunities as they arise during the course of the fieldwork [218]. Emergent sampling occurs in the field as the researcher gains more knowledge of a setting and can make sampling decisions that take advantage of events as they unfold [219]. This was utilised in Chimanimani town when it was discovered that there was the Chimanimani Tourist Association (CTA) which was not on the list of functional CBT projects collected from the ZTA. The CTA promotes the participation and empowerment of the poorest youth in Matsetso village through facilitating employment and training opportunities. Therefore, youth from Matsetso village who worked at the CTA were interviewed.

In the field, the Chipinge and Nyanga Rural District Councils who were involved with the Mahenye and Gairezi CBT projects, as well as traditional leaders, were visited first to seek permission to conduct the interviews. After permission was granted, a CBT project committee member, usually the chairperson, was asked to assist the researchers in moving around the communities and suggesting potential interviewees as he was deemed to understand the local living conditions. In Chipinge district, local people in Mahenye village were interviewed while in Mutare district interviews were conducted with villagers of the Nyagundi resettlement area. The other interviews were conducted in Nyamutsapa and Dazi communities (Nyanga district) as well as Chibasanai village and Matsetso village (Chimanimani district). The interviewed groups of local people included community members, CBT projects’ elected committee members, and traditional leaders. A total of 37 local poor people were interviewed in all of the four districts. In addition, informal conversations were held with six more local people where notes were taken. Thus, a total of 43 local people were interviewed in Manicaland’s four districts.

However, some ethical standards had to be adhered to. Before going into the field, a clearance letter (ethics number EMS2016/11/04-0203) was issued by the North-West University’s ethics committee after following the established procedures and completing all of the required documents. In the field, permission had to be sought from the Rural District Councils (RDCs) and the traditional leaders before commencing the interviews. The interviewees were also given the opportunity to read a consent form and ask any questions before they signed it. This meant that they participated willingly, as forcing them to participate is unethical [220,221,222]. However, in rural communities, there were some respondents who could not read and understand what was written on the consent forms. Thus, the researchers followed Monica’s [223] proposal that researchers read the contents of the consent form to the participant in the presence of a literate witness who then signed the form on behalf of the participant. Yin [224] also points out the importance of seeking permission when using recording devices. Thus, the researchers sought participants’ permission for recording the interviews. The researchers also sought permission to take pictures from the respondents during the observations.

Deceiving participants during the fieldwork is unethical [222,225]. The researchers, therefore, made sure that the participants fully understood the purpose of the study and were truthful about their identities. Creswell [222] argues that respecting the sites and avoiding disruption is also key in ethics. As all the visited rural communities had sacred sites and most of them used the environment as the key attraction for tourists, the researchers respected these sites by adhering to what the local people advised them to do in order to avoid disruption of such sites.

Research ethics also entails the need to avoid exploitation of participants, especially in cases where they are used to assist in data collection. The researchers did not use any research assistants, but they gave a token of appreciation to the local people who moved around with them in the communities. Another key aspect of ethics in research relates to the protection of the participants’ identities. The researchers ensured that the identities of all the participants were protected by using pseudonyms during data analysis (Section 7.2 and Section 7.3).

As the researchers also collected data through informal conversations, Swain and Spire [226] posit that the respondents should be aware of the research when informal conversations are used in research. In this research, all participants were informed about the research. However, Swain and Spire [226] argue that other ethical issues such as informed consent and the respondents’ right to know that they are participating in a research study are not important as researchers usually decide to use data collected through informal conversations when they are analysing the data. Likewise, the researchers only decided to use some of the notes taken from the informal conversations during the data analysis process.

Themes were established during data analysis which include local people’s (i) perceptions of tourism as a means of poverty alleviation, and (ii) perceptions of tourism as a means of community development. The findings of this study are presented next, following the sequence of the established themes.

6. Results

6.1. Interviewees’ Profiles

Thirty-four of the local people interviewed were male (79.1%), and nine were female (20.9%). The average age of the interviewees was 41 years wherein the average age of females was 42 and males was 41. The reason why men comprise the majority of people interviewed could be that rural communities in Zimbabwe are patriarchal [227,228]. With respect to marital status, 35 were married, while six were single and two were widowed. All names used for the quotes are pseudonyms (

Table 5. Interview respondents’ profiles.

Name Pseudonym	Gender	Age	Location/District	Activity/Employment	Name pseudonym	Gender	Age	Location/District	Activity/Employment
Shoko	Male	30	Chipinge	Unemployed	Mombe	Male	33	Chimanimani	Unemployed
Danda	Male	43	Chipinge	Informally employed	Gonzo	Male	22	Chimanimani	Employed
Gore	Male	31	Chipinge	Unemployed	Nyundo	Male	22	Nyanga	Employed
Madhuve	Female	27	Chipinge	Employed	Bveni	Male	45	Mutare	Informally employed
Inzwi	Male	46	Chipinge	Informally employed	Gejo	Male	41	Nyanga	Informally employed
Tino	Male	46	Chipinge	Employed	Chiwepu	Male	31	Nyanga	Employed
Taku	Male	49	Chipinge	Unemployed	Zumbu	Male	53	Nyanga	Unemployed
Piki	Male	83	Chipinge	Unemployed	Nzungu	Male	30	Nyanga	Unemployed
Feso	Male	38	Chipinge	Employed	Zviso	Female	50	Nyanga	Informally employed
Hombarume	Male	39	Chipinge	Informally employed	Chenai	Female	33	Nyanga	Employed
Gweta	Male	53	Chipinge	Employed	Tsoro	Male	52	Nyanga	Informally employed
Muwuyu	Male	45	Chimanimani	Employed	Tombi	Female	76	Nyanga	Unemployed
Tsubvu	Male	48	Mutare	Unemployed	Mufudzi	Male	31	Chimanimani	Employed
Zino	Male	55	Chimanimani	Unemployed	Shanje	Female	43	Nyanga	Unemployed
Saka	Male	43	Chimanimani	Informally employed	Mbudzi	Male	52	Mutare	Unemployed
Chipikiri	Male	18	Chimanimani	Employed	Huku	Male	46	Chipinge	Unemployed
Muti	Male	33	Mutare	Informally employed	Hwai	Female	37	Chipinge	Employed
Gonhi	Female	38	Mutare	Informally employed	Katsi	Male	43	Mutare	Informally employed
Tsvimbo	Male	55	Mutare	Unemployed	Juru	Male	32	Nyanga	Employed
Svodai	Female	32	Chimanimani	Unemployed	Svosve	Male	28	Mutare	Unemployed
Rukova	Female	38	Chimanimani	Unemployed
Sango	Male	37	Chimanimani	Informally employed
Vende	Male	50	Chimanimani	Unemployed

).

6.2. Local People’s Perceptions of Tourism as a Means of Poverty Alleviation

When asked whether they perceived tourism as a means of poverty alleviation, 31 interviewees considered tourism to be a tool of poverty alleviation, and nine did not consider tourism to be effective in alleviating poverty, while three stated that it could not be depended upon as a tool for poverty reduction. The researchers observed that those who regarded tourism as a potential tool for poverty alleviation were either employed formally by the CBT projects, sold curios and crafts to tourists, performed traditional dances for tourists or received disbursements in the form of fertilisers and maize seeds from the CBT projects:

Tourism can be a tool for poverty alleviation. Thirty-three people in the community are currently employed at Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge. We also have a new project, Jamanda, which has already employed a number of people in the community with promises to employ more when in full operation (Inzwi and Hombarume, Mahenye village). When tourists come, a market is created for our curios, and we earn money to take care of our families (Saka and Mombe, Chibasani village).

Tourism is doing a lot in this community to alleviate poverty as local people are employed at the chalets as housekeepers and others as river wardens by the project, while the rest of the project members get fertiliser and maize seeds at the end of the year as disbursements (Chenai, Zumbu and Nzungu, Dazi and Nyamutsapa communities).

Danda in Mahenye village indicated that revenues generated from tourism had been used to pay school fees for orphans, and hence he regarded tourism as a means of poverty alleviation.

Ten of those who considered tourism an effective tool of poverty alleviation were employed by Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge, the Gairezi CBT project and by the CAMPFIRE in the Mahenye village. Although they all occupied lower positions such as river wardens, housekeepers and natural resource monitors, they stated that their wages helped meet their needs:

With the US $80 I am paid monthly, I can pay school fees and buy agricultural inputs (Hwai, Mahenye village).

The above statement shows that some locals considered their low-paying jobs as being able to reduce their poverty. Chenai, who was employed as a housekeeper at the Gairezi CBT chalets, said that there were times they were not paid on time due to the harsh economic conditions, but she still considered tourism to be a tool of poverty alleviation. This is contrary to the views of Saayman and Giampiccoli [181] who argue that low-paying jobs cannot alleviate poverty.

Eight other respondents who regarded tourism as a means of poverty alleviation received fertiliser and maize seeds as disbursements from the Gairezi CBT project:

The disbursements we receive from the project have increased our harvests as we used to struggle to buy fertiliser. We are now able to feed our families (Chenai, Zumbu and Nzungu, Dazi and Nyamutsapa communities).

As local people’s main source of livelihood is farming, they considered the disbursements from the CBT projects as a way of alleviating poverty.

Six of the interviewees who regarded tourism as a tool of poverty reduction sold crafts and curios to tourists. They, therefore, considered tourism to have created a market for their products. Due to the low tourist arrivals, the respondents indicated that it had become difficult to be in direct contact with the tourists. As a result, they had resorted to selling the crafts through the project offices or the lodges. Nonetheless, a discussion with one of the villagers in Mahenye established that some crafts were still sold directly to tourists since those at the project offices or lodges took a long time to be sold. Some cited the low tourist arrivals as the reason why their crafts and curios took so long to be sold at the lodges and project offices, while others blamed the staff for not being good enough at persuading tourists to buy. Regarding the revenues generated from the selling of crafts and curios, they mentioned that it had reduced drastically due to the low tourist arrivals:

We used to get an average of US $30 per week during the peak season, but these days we get the same amount in two months (Juru, Mahenye village).

Although the respondents blamed the low tourist arrivals for having affected their sales revenues, their products were arguably overpriced and of poor quality [229]. Indeed, one respondent in the Mahenye village revealed that a tourist once complained that a walking stick sold at the lodge was priced by more than three times compared to the price he had been charged in Masvingo. Nevertheless, in Chibasani and Mapembe, the interviewees claimed that the bulk of their products were bought by people from Harare, who later exported it to South Africa.

Four interviewees who were members of a traditional dance group in Mahenye also regarded tourism as a tool for poverty alleviation. They highlighted that they performed for tourists at Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge and also during the annual cultural gala. They earned an average of US $80 per month in the peak season and US $30 per month in the low season, which they shared among the members. They stated that the revenues earned have been key in paying school fees and feeding their families. However, they stated that during the pre-2000 era, they would perform an average of three times a week and made more revenues from tips that they used to improve their lives, including buying bicycles, radios and farm implements.

Those who considered tourism as a tool of poverty alleviation concurred that they used to struggle to pay school fees, buy agricultural inputs and implements before they had engaged in the different tourism activities. They also stated that they used to depend on farming alone and were greatly affected during drought, but that with their involvement in tourism activities, they were able to increase their income and improve their family lives.

However, three of the people who perceived tourism as a means of poverty alleviation warned against depending on it:

Tourism can alleviate poverty to a certain extent; hence it cannot totally be depended upon. Most of the benefits of tourism are indirect. Personally, I have not benefited directly from tourism (Feso, Tsubvu and Taku, Mahenye village).

Feso, Tsubvu and Taku stated that their main source of income was farming and that they only benefited from tourism when they got temporary employment during the erection of fences and the social development projects. They stated that they would prefer getting household incomes, as was the case in the early days of the project. These statements suggest that tourism revenues, although important, may serve as supplemental to the lives of some local people. Therefore, it should not be viewed as a sole or main tool to lift them out of poverty.

Meanwhile, nine respondents were of the opinion that tourism was not a tool of poverty alleviation, for example:

I do not think tourism can alleviate poverty. Since the Mapembe Nature Reserve project started in the early 1990s, there has been no money generated for the community (Shanje, Nyagundi Resettlement area).

Likewise, Svodai and Rukova in Chibasani village commented, “We just hear that tourism can alleviate poverty, but we have not yet benefited from the Chibasani CBT project”. The researcher observed that those projects which were not generating revenues were the non-CAMPFIRE ones (Mapembe Nature Reserve and Chibasani CBT project). The researchers also observed that a majority of those who did not consider tourism as a means of poverty alleviation concentrated on farming:

I grow a lot of vegetables, yet l am struggling to find the market while the Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge purchases vegetables from Chiredzi town (Shoko, Mahenye village).

Although the second pathway from Mitchell and Ashley [183,230] proposed three pathways by which benefits of tourism can be transmitted to the poor by selling their farm produces to local businesses, this is not really the case in Manicaland, where many lodges do not purchase from local people. This finding suggests that there might be a need for the private sector to evaluate its supply chain linkages to local supplies in order to maximise incomes for the local poor.

It appears that those who received economic benefits from tourism, either directly or indirectly, tended to view it as a means of poverty alleviation. In contrast, those who were not involve in any tourism-related activities and benefited from it did not consider tourism a means of poverty alleviation. Even in cases where tourism contributed to reducing poverty, it was not viewed as a sole means of poverty alleviation, given the low visitor arrivals. This raises the issue of equitable distribution of tourism benefits among local people. Interviewees’ perspectives on tourism as a contributor to community development are examined next.

6.3. Perceptions of Tourism as a Means of Community Development

Tourism can bring about community development through social, economic, environmental and cultural benefits [231]. Indeed, interviews conducted in Manicaland also revealed that tourism has brought about social, economic, environmental and cultural benefits to poor communities.

A majority of respondents were of the view that tourism development brought improvements to their communities through the construction of social development projects:

Through tourism, we now have a clinic, a school, a grinding mill and a tractor in our community (Madhuve, Mahenye village).

The chalets and the project offices were all built because of tourism (Nzungu, Dazi community).

The windmill, project offices and toilets in the Mapembe Nature Reserve are all the results of tourism (Muti, Nyagundi resettlement area).

The researcher observed that the construction of social development projects was still ongoing, especially in Mahenye village, where Early Childhood Development (ECD) school blocks were being constructed (Figure 2).

At the Mapembe Nature Reserve, some toilets had just been built and a water tank installed by the Environmental Management Authority (EMA), the project sponsors.

Regarding economic benefits, many respondents cited the provision of employment opportunities:

All the workers at the Gairezi chalets are from the Dazi and Nyamutsapa communities (Mufudzi, Nyamutsapa community).

Just like Mufudzi, most of the local people appreciated the role of tourism in creating employment for them. However, despite tourism development having been known to benefit poor communities through creating employment opportunities [232], as discussed, development implies quality while growth is about quantity. The statement above shows that many local people were employed (quantity), but they occupied low-paying positions (quality). Although some local people stated that their lives had been improved economically due to tourism development, the extent to which their overall quality of life has been enhanced seems less clear.

The communities also economically benefited from tourism by getting revenues from trophy hunting:

Through the CAMPFIRE programme, we are benefiting from our natural resources as we get revenues from trophy hunting (Gore, Mahenye village). All the developments in this community (e.g., grinding mill, tractor and trailer) were bought with the revenues generated by trophy hunting (Shoko, Mahenye village).

The trophy hunting revenues in the Mahenye village were also used to pay annual household taxes to the Rural District Council (RDC) for each community member. Besides revenues from consumptive tourism, in Mahenye, respondents claimed that the community was paid a monthly fee of US $2000 by the Chilo Gorge Safari Lodge as per their contractual agreement. These revenues have been useful to the community during drought:

Last year, there was a drought, and three tonnes of maize were bought from the Grain Marketing Board. The maize was equally distributed to all the households in this community (Danda, Mahenye village).

Apart from generating economic revenues, trophy hunting has provided meat for the communities, as stated by Hombarume in Mahenye village: “We get meat which is distributed equally to all households when a hunter kills an elephant during trophy hunting”. Tourism has therefore contributed to community development in poor rural communities by providing food security to local people. Meanwhile, members of the Gairezi CBT project enjoyed economic benefits in the form of fertiliser and maize seeds which were disbursed annually:

All the members get equal shares of one bag of fertiliser and four kilos of maize seeds as disbursements from the project; hence, the community is benefiting (Chiwepu, Nyamutsapa community).

Interviewees in Mahenye and those involved in the Gairezi CBT projects affirmed that some orphans in their communities economically benefitted by being assisted with school fees through the Nyanga Downs Fly Fishing Club (NDFFC) and the Mahenye Charitable Trust.

In terms of environmental benefits, tourism appears to have contributed to the conservation of local flora and fauna:bThe quota setting has resulted in the conservation of wildlife. If it was not for the quota setting, some animal species in this area could have been extinct by now (Inzwi, Mahenye village).

Previous research showed that poaching had reduced significantly in Mahenye after the inception of the Mahenye CBT project in 1982. By 1986, the hunting quota was increased by the National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (NPWLMA) [233,234]. At Mapembe, Tsanga and Muti commented that “Through this project, we now have zebras in our area which we did not have before and some of our indigenous tree species which are no longer found outside the nature reserve have been conserved”. The Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) [235] has applauded the conservation of flora at the Mapembe Nature Reserve, calling it a little island in a desert as various species of indigenous trees such as Msasa (Brachystegia speciformis), Teak (Baikiae plurigia) and Mukwa (Pterocarpus angolensis) have been protected.

In addition, some interviewees were of the opinion that tourism development has contributed to preserving their culture, heritage and indigenous knowledge systems (IKS). In Mahenye, respondents constantly referred to the annual cultural gala, which was believed to have revived their culture. The community got the chance to learn and exhibit their traditional food, make handcrafts and perform traditional dances to tourists. Many stated that without the gala, their culture could have disappeared years ago. In Mapembe, the researcher observed that the caves where the chiefs were buried have been fenced and protected from the public and they have become a major tourist attraction as well. In Chibasani, a number of ancient caves have also been preserved and became part of their product. The preservation of these heritage sites was carried out in consultation with the traditional leaders and community elders who provided their indigenous knowledge (IK) on how it should be done. Manwa [236] observed that more still needs to be done to fully incorporate IKS into tourism development as the traditional methods of hunting, which successfully conserved African wildlife for decades, was not utilised in preference of the Western-influenced NPWLMA hunting guidelines.

7. Discussion

7.1. Towards a Tourism and Community-Development Framework

Although there have been efforts to link tourism with poverty alleviation since the 1950s, much has not been done to show the interrelationships between tourism, poverty alleviation and community development [11]. The private sector partner’s linkage with the market may address the issue of low tourist arrivals which then results in more revenues being generated from the projects. It is argued that linkages between the local community and the formal tourism sector contributes to poverty reduction [231]. Likewise, the private sector partners involved with CBT development in Africa can encourage tour operators to include the CBT projects in their packages while they also market them through their websites as well as during travel conventions and shows. Once this happens, the communities may start to realise the benefits of tourism.

Although poverty alleviation should result in community development, the lack of empirical evidence on the role of tourism in reducing poverty seems to make it difficult to show the interrelationships between tourism, poverty alleviation and community development. Nonetheless, this study’s findings appear to suggest that these interrelationships clearly exist. As tourists visit poor rural communities for either consumptive or non-consumptive tourism activities, revenues are generated while employment opportunities are created, and markets are developed for curios and crafts. This reduces poverty levels by providing household incomes, school fees, additional income, and disbursements in the form of fertiliser and maize seeds. In turn, local people participate in tourism development by taking part in various tourism-related activities, which include but are not limited to the production and selling of crafts and curios and performing traditional dances to tourists. As noted, community development entails the participation and empowerment of local people as well as the recognition and use of their IKS. Figure 3 shows a tourism and community-development framework which illustrates these interrelationships.

The elements of the tourism and community-development framework are explained below.

7.2. Macro Environment

Tourism development takes place in a macro environment (i.e., political, social, technological, ecological and legal). In Africa, political instability scares tourists [211] while its poor economies discourage domestic tourism and local people from investing in tourism. Elite domination results in the unfair distribution of tourism revenues and it also affects community cohesion. The absence of information communication technology (ICT) increases leakages [237,238,239] while wildlife attracts tourists to poor communities and is vital for poor people’s livelihoods. The absence of land title deeds for rural African people affects their participation in tourism [240]. In Africa, much of the macro environment is accountable for the poverty situation in communities; this raises the need for poor community residents to participate in tourism development as a means to escape from poverty.

7.3. Poor Community Residents

Unspoiled rural Zimbabwe communities (African communities) and local people’s culture attract tourists [241]. Tourism development in the form of CBT projects is called for in poor rural communities as a strategy for poverty alleviation. To this end, poor community residents must also be given the opportunity to participate in tourism development.

7.4. Tourism Development

A type of tourism that aims to increase net benefits and expand opportunities for poor community residents (e.g., CBT, PPT) is ideal for reducing poverty in poor rural communities. It should promote community participation, community empowerment, and the use of IKS and culture in tourism development. CBT development in Africa may require the financial and technical support of external partners. However, over-reliance on external partners is risky and thus, there is a need to find strategies for generating revenues rather than sourcing funds from external partners by targeting increased tourist arrivals. This calls for the promotion of domestic tourism rather than concentrating on international tourism, which has not brought about the desired results. Thus, LED is encouraged. The introduction of ICT may also increase tourist arrivals [237], and local youth can be trained to use the technology. Thus, training programmes are key in alleviating poverty through tourism development.

7.5. Training Programmes

As these are key in tourism development, external partners also capacitate local people by providing training programmes. This is crucial in reducing poverty as local people may secure high-paying jobs as well as be able to run the projects on their own in the long term. Nevertheless, the training programmes should not be top-down and administered in a didactic manner, but instead be consulted with the local people at ground level.

7.6. Direct and Indirect Tourism Benefits

Training programmes are some of the benefits realised by Zimbabwe communities when there is tourism development in their communities. Tourism development in poor rural communities and the external partners also bring about both direct and indirect benefits.

7.7. Poverty Alleviation

Direct and indirect benefits help alleviate poverty in rural communities in Zimbabwe and through, for example, the provision of jobs where there are limited alternative employment opportunities [242]. This may improve local people’s living conditions. Tourism also offers additional livelihood opportunities in poor communities [231]. The promotion of community participation, community empowerment, and the incorporation of local culture and IKS address non-monetary poverty aspects which are key in bringing about community development.

7.8. Community Development

Poverty alleviation leads to community development through the provision of social, economic, environmental and cultural benefits. However, development should be done in consultation with local poor people rather than being imposed by the government or external partners in order to meet their expectations [138]. As illustrated in Figure 3 (forward and backward arrows), community participation, community empowerment and the use and recognition of IKS in tourism development are interconnected, and they symbolise a developed community.

Regarding the implementation of the framework, African governments are expected to play a greater role by creating friendly visa policies for tourist-generating countries, ensuring a peaceful political environment and facilitating infrastructure development. However, the governments need support and proper coordination from all of the other stakeholders (e.g., private sector, NGOs, community residents) involved in CBT development. Poor coordination between these stakeholders affects the successful implementation of the framework.

However, the results of this study (and the tourism and community-development framework) cannot be generalised to the African continent as a whole or to poor rural communities globally since it is limited to the views and perspectives of local people in Manicaland Province, Zimbabwe.

8. Conclusions

This article has shown that tourism development in poor rural African communities has the potential to alleviate poverty and bring about community development through a case study of Manicaland Province, Zimbabwe. However, the issue of poor supply chain linkages contrasts some PPT proponents [183,230,243] who argue that local people benefit from tourism development through secondary effects. Although it is argued that PPT has the capacity to promote linkages between the tourism industry and the poor [164], other PPT initiatives such as CBT have been criticised for concentrating on the provision of training and infrastructure while neglecting provision of markets for PPT products [244]. Thus, this study has added a local voice perspective (African) to the study of tourism, poverty alleviation, community development and to tourism research at large [199]. Theoretically, this article extends the extant tourism literature on poverty in that it has not merely looked at the economic impacts of tourism but rather argues that poor people, according to African standards, also need to be empowered through the recognition and incorporation of their IKS and culture in tourism development. This study suggests that poor rural African people are not only concerned with attaining economic benefits, but environmental and cultural benefits as well. It is not always about money in Africa, it is about land as well. These two aspects bring self-esteem. This could be the reason why indigenous communities may not consider themselves poor if they can preserve their culture and utilise natural resources (land) [165]. On a practice front, this study is potentially helpful to academics, practitioners and the public in Africa as it has highlighted the roles of CBT projects in poverty reduction and is bringing about community development from local poor people’s perspectives. Although studies on the role of tourism in poverty alleviation and community development date back to the 1950s [98], few have investigated the interrelationships between these bodies of knowledge. The lack of empirical evidence has left a void in most of the prior studies on PPT [98,164,183,185,186,187,188]. Thus, this study has attempted to fill this void in knowledge by developing a tourism and community-development framework (Figure 3).

It can also be concluded that regardless of foreign aid being criticised as an ineffective way to fight poverty and bring about community development [245], the findings from this study have shown that donor funding is still vital in rural African CBT development as they fund the construction of infrastructure as well as provide training programmes to local people.

Most local people considered the provision of employment opportunities as the main benefit of tourism development. Nonetheless, they occupied low-paying jobs that were not secure. Such jobs may not move them out of poverty in the long run as they are not only associated with low salaries but also long working hours and verbal abuse. Those who sold crafts and curios stated that tourism development created markets for their products, but the lack of pricing skills and the poor quality of their products resulted in tourists not buying their products. Therefore, this study argues that there is a need to improve the quality of the products while training programmes in pricing and negotiating skills are provided with the help of various stakeholders involved in CBT development. Training local people may result in them occupying higher positions, thereby reducing leakages and contributing to poverty alleviation [231]. Furthermore, it is suggested that to get more visitors, African governments should assist craft sellers to penetrate new markets by helping them to exhibit at local, regional and international travel shows as well as promoting domestic tourism and linking the projects with the markets and tour operators.

This study also suggests exchange programmes between local people with other successful local, regional and international CBT projects as this may provide valuable lessons so that local people can run their projects professionally and sustainably, especially after external partners withdraw. If these projects are sustainable, they may help lift local people out of poverty and bring development to their communities.

Finally, this study has shown that poor people may interpret the impacts of tourism on their lives very differently in different situations and settings. It is, thus, plausible to argue that only by attending to the views and lived experiences of poor people that meaningful approaches to poverty alleviation through tourism can be established in a specific community or society. It is noted, however, that giving poor people a chance to voice their own opinions is just a beginning. Poverty alleviation also requires greater changes at the structural (policy) level, and that such changes are actualised in practice. The question of whether the voices of poor people in Africa and elsewhere will be heard and considered, with their living conditions improved as a result of tourism development, depends on the efforts of many individuals and institutions across the globe.

Nevertheless, a number of limitations to this study need to be acknowledged. As noted, the poverty concept is multidimensional. Other dimensions of poverty (e.g., life expectancy, health) are not given much attention due to the scope of this study. It is a challenge to address all these aspects of poverty in a single research. Similarly, other key concepts (community, development, and community development) are also multidimensional and as a result, they were not explored comprehensively in this study that has primarily focused on the voices of the local poor people in the case study area.

There were also some challenges that were experienced by the researchers in the field. The fieldwork was carried out from June to October 2018. This coincided with the 2018 presidential elections in Zimbabwe. As snowball sampling was used, this made it difficult to fix appointments with most government employees who were supposed to provide the researchers with contact details of traditional leaders, CBT-elected committee members and community leaders. The inaccessibility of the CBT projects represented another major obstacle. Apart from being peripherally located and having bad roads, the households in most of the visited communities were dispersed (e.g., in Chibasani village) and could not be accessed by car due to the terrain. Given the researchers’ limited time, this reduced the number of respondents that could be interviewed.