Assessment of the Social Impacts of Community Based Tourism

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 268-302
Author(s):  
Robin Boustead ◽  
Sushma Bhatta

Abstract We set out to assess the social impacts of tourism in a Community Based Tourism (CBT) destination by asking the following questions; (1) from a community and individual perspective, what are the major issues faced in a CBT destination?, and (2) is there any pattern to, or similarity between, quality of life and liveable environment impacts in a CBT destination? The Sagarmatha (Mt Everest) National Park in Nepal is used for the study area and where tourism is clearly an important contributor to the local economy. Despite high levels of resident and visitor satisfaction with tourism, survey results indicate that the major issues faced by communities and individuals in the Sagarmatha National Park and Buffer Zone (SNPBZ) are related to uncontrolled tourism development. This is most evident in a lack of relevant skills and training, increasing time burden to cater for tourists, frustrations felt by residents during peak season, the impact of inbound migration, lack of community control and most importantly, the impact of waste and water pollution. Management of the SNPBZ is based on a multi-stakeholder system that includes local population participation, but it does not seem to be working very well. Our survey indicates that uncontrolled growth of tourism businesses is placing increasing pressures on traditional cultures and the environment, thus creating negative impacts on quality of live and liveable environment for residents. Without an effective management system that enhances the ability of communities and Park management to control the impact of tourism, the situation is very likely to worsen in the future.

Author(s):  
Phillip D. Stevenson ◽  
Christopher A. Mattson ◽  
Kenneth M. Bryden ◽  
Nordica A. MacCarty

More than ever before, engineers are creating products for developing countries. One of the purposes of these products is to improve the consumer’s quality of life. Currently, there is no established method of measuring the social impact of these types of products. As a result, engineers have used their own metrics to assess their product’s impact, if at all. Some of the common metrics used include products sold and revenue, which measure the financial success of a product without recognizing the social successes or failures it might have. In this paper we introduce a potential metric, the Product Impact Metric (PIM), which quantifies the impact a product has on impoverished individuals — especially those living in developing countries. It measures social impact broadly in five dimensions: health, education, standard of living, employment quality, and security. The PIM is inspired by the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) created by the United Nations Development Programme. The MPI measures how the depth of poverty within a nation changes year after year, and the PIM measures how an individual’s quality of life changes after being affected by an engineered product. The Product Impact Metric can be used to predict social impacts (using personas that represent real individuals) or measure social impacts (using specific data from products introduced into the market).


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. e0251383
Author(s):  
Lyudmila Maksanova ◽  
Taisiya Bardakhanova ◽  
Natalia Lubsanova ◽  
Darima Budaeva ◽  
Arnold Tulokhonov

The impact of protected areas on local communities is the subject of intense discussions as part of the implementation of the global ecosystem protection agenda. Conflicts between the interests of environmental protection and the needs of socio-economic development become particularly acute when large areas of land are taken out of economic circulation as a result of organizing protected areas. In this case, there is an urgent need for detailed and reliable information about the social impacts of such land withdrawal on the well-being of the local population. An analysis of the methodological approaches widely presented in the literature, used to assess the social impact of protected areas, testifies to the insufficiency of completed and practically applicable methodological guidelines for the areas with significant restrictions for people who form part of the protected landscape. In this study, we understand the cost estimate of the social impact of national parks on the local population as a quantitative calculation of the losses due to restrictions on their ownership rights to land and property assets. The methodological approach consists in considering the category of losses as a sum total of the actual damage and lost profits. The assessment algorithm includes three stages: systematization of social impacts on citizens, development of indicators and data collection, and calculation of actual damage to the population and lost profits. The assessment is performed using the example of the Tunkinsky National Park located in the Tunkinsky municipal district of the Republic of Buryatia, a region of the Russian Federation, where there are 14 rural settlements with a population of more than 20,000 people. The results of the calculations show that the losses of the rural population due to legal restrictions on the registration of land dealings amount to 170.4 million USD. Taking into account the potential amount of administrative fines and the value of property subject to demolition, the losses amount to 239.2 million USD. It is more than an order of magnitude greater than the amount of own revenues of the Tunkinsky municipal district in 2011–2019. The results obtained demonstrate the real picture of the impact of restrictions on the rights of local people to land within the boundaries of national parks and are useful for developing measures to account for their interests and include protected areas in the socio-economic development of regions. The methodological approach developed by the authors can be used in other national parks, where it is necessary to optimize the policy of improving land use for local residents.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-17
Author(s):  
Arvin Widiawan ◽  
Thomas Santoso ◽  
Sienny Thio

The purpose of this study is to determine visitors’ perceptions towards the implementation of sustainable tourism at Kawasan Ekowisata Mangrove Wonorejo (KEMW) as seen from the perspectives of the environmental, economic, as well as social dimensions. The research method used is descriptive quantitative by distributing questionnaires to 101 respondents as KEMW visitors. The study result shows that the implementation of sustainable tourism from the environmental dimension still prioritizes goals that lead to conservation. Sustainable tourism from the economic dimension is directed to provide benefit to the local economy. Whereas from the social dimension, KEMW has given visitors a sense of comfort and security. KEMW management is expected to be able to create more proactive programs, to educate visitors about conservation, and to involve the community to clean up waste in deeper forest areas. Moreover, the management should promote the variety of processed local mangrove products, as well as add facilities that provide easier access for visitors with special needs. Further research can be done by either measuring the level of visitor satisfaction towards the services of KEMW’s employees or identifying the impact of the presence of KEMW on the economic and social characteristics of the local population.


Author(s):  
M. Aryal ◽  
J. P. Dutta ◽  
P. P. Regmi ◽  
K. R. Pandey

This study assessed the impact of tourism and willingness to pay by foreigners in Chitwan National Park of Chitwan district during the year 2007-2008. Eighty tourists were selected randomly to evaluate the recreational value of Chitwan National Park to protect the biodiversity of buffer zone area in Chitwan National Park. The tourism created the local employment opportunities to local people but it was unplanned and location specific. Since the program has focused in both community development and conservation awareness activities however, the study showed that only public infrastructure development was emphasized instead of sensitizing the members towards the conservation issues of protected areas. The study examined how much Park visitors were willing to pay to visit the Park. Annual benefits from the Park were considerable - the total annual consumer surplus obtained from recreation in the Park was approximately USD 233 million. Various factors influence the visitors like travel cost, household income, and the quality of the Park. Improvements in quality of the Park were likely to increase recreational benefits.Journal of the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science. Vol. 33-34, 2015, page :1-10


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-27
Author(s):  
Belen Suarez Lopez ◽  
Antonio Vargas Alcaide

When the impossible becomes inevitable. The covid-19 has disrupted increasing the speed of changes in the Industry 4.0, highlighting the need to make a paradigm shift from ego-system to eco-system perspective, challenging organizations and citizens to react from their changemakers role. Two crucial needs arise: firstly, the need to innovate to address the tremendous and complex challenges we face and on the other hand, the need to assess and manage our social impacts. Most organizations should redesign their purpose to focus on measuring, monitoring, and reporting not only in financial terms but also taking into account the non-financial performance, especially in terms of sustainability. Some authors names this time, the era of “stakeholders capitalism”. This paper summarizes the arguments and counterarguments within the scientific, standardization, and business discussion on understanding how organizations could measure their financial, environmental, and social impacts; how to increase the quality of the sustainability reporting, and deliver the most benefit for their stakeholders. The article analyzes the pathway of Innovating, Evaluating and Reporting the Impact, using the materiality assessment as a driver to create value thanks to disruptive technologies as Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain and the Internet of things. The result of the study can be practically valuable for many stakeholders: the Organizations Management and Boards, Chief Innovation Officers and Teams responsible for Sustainability reporting, Auditors assuring the reliability of sustainable reporting, the Scientifics researching on the topic of Innovation, Impact Assessment, and Sustainability; Public Administrations for addressing the economic, social and environmental challenges, and building trust by ensuring transparency and accountability; Investors and other stakeholders interested on understanding long-term value creation and the social and environmental risk assessment to incentivize sustainable growth.


Trials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Ye ◽  
Dawei Zhu ◽  
Siyuan Chen ◽  
Xuefeng Shi ◽  
Rui Gong ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Hearing loss is quite prevalent and can be related to people’s quality of life. To our knowledge, there are limited studies assessing the efficacy of hearing interventions on quality of life in adults. Therefore, we aim to conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to determine the impact and cost-effectiveness of community-based hearing rehabilitation on quality of life among Chinese adults with hearing loss. Methods/design In this two-arm feasibility study, participants aged 16 and above with some degree of hearing loss (n = 464) will be recruited from Linyi City, Shandong Province. They are randomly assigned to the treatment group or the control group. Those in the treatment group are prescribed with hearing aids, while those in the control group receive no intervention. Reinstruction in use of devices is provided for the treatment group during booster visits held 12 months post-randomization or unscheduled interim visits when necessary. Data are collected at baseline and the follow-up 20 months later. The primary outcome is changes in quality of life over a 20-month study period. Secondary outcomes include sub-dimensions in quality of life, physical functioning, chronic diseases, cognitive function, depression, social support, hospitalizations, falls, and healthcare costs. Finally, we will evaluate whether hearing aids intervention is cost-effective to apply in a large scale. Discussion The trial is designed to evaluate the impact and cost-effectiveness of a community-based rehabilitation intervention on quality of life among Chinese adults with hearing loss. We hope that it would help improve the well-being for Chinese adults and provide references in policy and practice for China and other countries. Trial registration Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR1900024739. Registered on 26 July 2019.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adweeti Nepal ◽  
Santa Kumar Dangol ◽  
Anke van der Kwaak

Abstract Background The persistent quality gap in maternal health services in Nepal has resulted in poor maternal health outcomes. Accordingly, the Government of Nepal (GoN) has placed emphasis on responsive and accountable maternal health services and initiated social accountability interventions as a strategical approach simultaneously. This review critically explores the social accountability interventions in maternal health services in Nepal and its outcomes by analyzing existing evidence to contribute to the informed policy formulation process. Methods A literature review and desk study undertaken between December 2018 and May 2019. An adapted framework of social accountability by Lodenstein et al. was used for critical analysis of the existing literature between January 2000 and May 2019 from Nepal and other low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) that have similar operational context to Nepal. The literature was searched and extracted from database such as PubMed and ScienceDirect, and web search engines such as Google Scholar using defined keywords. Results The study found various social accountability interventions that have been initiated by GoN and external development partners in maternal health services in Nepal. Evidence from Nepal and other LMICs showed that the social accountability interventions improved the quality of maternal health services by improving health system responsiveness, enhancing community ownership, addressing inequalities and enabling the community to influence the policy decision-making process. Strong gender norms, caste-hierarchy system, socio-political and economic context and weak enforceability mechanism in the health system are found to be the major contextual factors influencing community engagement in social accountability interventions in Nepal. Conclusions Social accountability interventions have potential to improve the quality of maternal health services in Nepal. The critical factor for successful outcomes in maternal health services is quality implementation of interventions. Similarly, continuous effort is needed from policymakers to strengthen monitoring and regulatory mechanism of the health system and decentralization process, to improve access to the information and to establish proper complaints and feedback system from the community to ensure the effectiveness and sustainability of the interventions. Furthermore, more study needs to be conducted to evaluate the impact of the existing social accountability interventions in improving maternal health services in Nepal.


2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Sibitz ◽  
M. Amering ◽  
A. Unger ◽  
M.E. Seyringer ◽  
A. Bachmann ◽  
...  

Abstract:Objective:The quality of life (QOL) of patients with schizophrenia has been found to be positively correlated with the social network and empowerment, and negatively correlated with stigma and depression. However, little is known about the way these variables impact on the QOL. The study aims to test the hypothesis that the social network, stigma and empowerment directly and indirectly by contributing to depression influence the QOL in patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders.Method:Data were collected on demographic and clinical variables, internalized stigma, perceived devaluation and discrimination, empowerment, control convictions, depression and QOL. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was applied to examine the impact of the above-mentioned constructs on QOL.Results:The influences of the social network, stigma, empowerment and depression on QOL were supported by the SEM. A poor social network contributed to a lack of empowerment and stigma, which resulted in depression and, in turn, in poor QOL. Interestingly, however, the social network and stigma did not show a direct effect on QOL.Conclusions:Following a recovery approach in mental health services by focusing on the improvement of the social network, stigma reduction and especially on the development of personal strength has the potential to reduce depression in patients with psychosis and improving their QOL.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 4001
Author(s):  
Undrakh Zagarkhorloo ◽  
Wim Heijman ◽  
Liesbeth Dries ◽  
Buyanzaya Batjargal

Improving household livelihoods through tourism, while at the same time achieving the goals of conservation, remains a challenge in high-value nature areas around the world. This paper studies a herder-community-based tourism system in Mongolia in light of these challenges. The social–ecological system (SES) framework was used as a conceptual foundation. The generic SES framework was adapted to the case of the herder-community-based tourism system. The adapted framework was then used to assess the economic, ecological, and social objectives of the herder-community-based tourism system characterised by natural resources and cultural landscapes. Primary data collection included interviews with key informants in the tourism sector: tourism researchers, representatives of donor projects, managers of tour operators, and guides. Based on their responses, the study site was selected in the buffer zone of the Hustai National Park, which is a protected area. Respondents in the second stage of interviews were herders who participate in herder-based tourism and who live in the vicinity of the protected area. Results show that the SES framework is able to diagnose the sustainability of the herder-community-tourism system, but sustainability outcomes indicate an imbalance between social, economic, and environmental performance. The herder-community-based tourism system is successful in conserving wildlife and habitats; however, the distribution of revenues gained from tourism shows that only a small and inequitable share reaches the herder community.


Author(s):  
Hans Ottosson ◽  
Emma Hirschi ◽  
Christopher A. Mattson ◽  
Eric Dahlin

In this paper we present a starting point for designing for and/or assessing the social impact of engineered products. The starting point is a set of tables comprising products, their general functional characteristics, and the accompanying social impacts. We have constructed these tables by first extracting a set of social impact categories from the literature, then 65 products were qualitatively reviewed to find their social impact. The resulting product impact tables can be used at either the beginning of the product development process to decide what social impact to design for and discover product functions that lead to it, or later to qualitatively assess the social impact of a product being designed and/or to assess the impact of an existing product.


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