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Assessing ecotourism in an Indigenous community: using, testing and proving the wheel of empowerment framework as a measurement tool
journal contribution
posted on 2018-06-07, 00:00 authored by A Mendoza-Ramos, Bruce PrideauxBruce Prideaux© 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Many of the issues confronting Indigenous peoples result from disempowered communities. Conversely, where communities are empowered, usually as a consequence of landownership, they are able to actively participate in, and benefit from, economic activities such as tourism. In this study, a framework titled the wheel of empowerment framework is used to demonstrate how the level of empowerment/disempowerment in five dimensions can be measured. The dimensions tested are economic, psychological, social, political and environmental. Indicators to measure the level of empowerment for each dimension were developed in a three-stage research process commencing with semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, followed by focus groups with community members from Coba, a Mayan village located near Cancun in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Appropriate indicators were identified and used to assess community levels of empowerment. Results show that the ability of communities to develop sustainable ecotourism businesses requires support from external stakeholders including governments and the private sector as well as internal stakeholders including the local community and importantly from community leaders. The results also show that empowered communities are able to derive considerable social and economic benefits from ecotourism business ventures and make a positive contribution to the ongoing maintenance of sustainability of their local environment.
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Other
History
Volume
26Issue
2Start Page
277End Page
291Number of Pages
15eISSN
1747-7646ISSN
0966-9582Publisher
Routledge, UKPublisher DOI
Peer Reviewed
- Yes
Open Access
- No
Acceptance Date
2017-06-09External Author Affiliations
Colectividad Razonatura AC, Sustainable Tourism, Playa del Carmen, MexicoAuthor Research Institute
- Centre for Tourism and Regional Opportunities
Era Eligible
- Yes
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Journal of Sustainable TourismUsage metrics
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