What is Community Based Tourism?
With tourism representing over 10% of the global economy, travel has the power to change the world. And when tourists visit local communities and support locally owned businesses, travel has the power to become the greatest force for wealth redistrbution the world has ever seen. Through community based organizations, tourists have the opportunity to visit communities for a tour, a homestay, or a meal and to have meaningful exchanges with locals that go beyond the normal resort holiday.
That's because every Euro spent in a community stays there. And it's reinvested in the community, by improving infrastructure, providing training or investing in new services to offer tourists. It's money that directly improves the lives of the people who live there too. VSocial only supports development projects with community at their heart. So, for example, if a community instals running water for tourists, it's there for residents too. And if a community tarmacs a road to make it easier for tourists to get there, it's better for the people there, too.
But the benefits to a community aren't just a better quality of life. By supporting projects Empowering Women, Preserving Cultures, Protecting the Environment and Developing Youth Training, the VSocial Foundation supports sustainable change, improving the skill sets and employment opportunities for young people, encouraging women to take up leadership roles, helping communities generate income through greener alternatives and supporting local and indigenous cultures to preserve their heritage by sharing it with visitors.
