Community-based indigenous tourism, NGOs and indigenous poverty in Bangladesh Md Ariful Hoque A thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Otago Dunedin, New Zealand Abstract Indigenous peoples, with unique cultures and ways of life, often constitute the most vulnerable groups of society and may experience discrimination and marginalisation in many forms. Observing the growing quest to obtain first-hand experiences of indigenous cultures and lifestyles, many indigenous communities around the world have embraced tourism as a way forward for their socio-economic development, primarily to address their poverty. This is evident in the increasing focus on community- based tourism (CBT), indigenous tourism and their application together. Concomitantly, many development-oriented organisations, i.e. donors and NGOs, have incorporated tourism as an additional means of development, explicitly emphasising the inclusion of indigenous and/or host communities within the formal tourism economy. However, the outcomes of such involvement and interventions are sometimes questionable and previous studies in this regard have proved inconclusive, especially in the context of indigenous poverty alleviation in developing countries. This study thus aims to investigate the role of NGOs in alleviating rural indigenous poverty through the facilitation of community-based indigenous tourism (CBIT) involvement in a developing country context - Bangladesh. Fitting into the domain of critical theory, a qualitative case study approach was adopted where multiple methods, including semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and observations, were employed to collect empirical evidence from two indigenous communities in Bangladesh. Following this a thematic analysis was applied in analysing the qualitative data collected and developing the key findings. Findings show that NGO-facilitated tourism involvement has created some economic opportunities (e.g. income and employment, access to credit) that are limited in amount but significant considering the marginal conditions of the communities. Such involvement was to some extent also found to be contributing to the empowerment and reduced economic vulnerability of the communities. Simultaneously, the findings show that these benefits come along with several costs (e.g. creating external dependency, invasion of indigenous privacy, the threat of displacement) that overshadow the positive gains in many cases. The study reveals a dynamic interplay of multidimensional empowerment aspects moving beyond the mere economic aspect. While investigating the research issue, the findings observed a high interdependency between opportunity, empowerment and security. The thesis also examines a range of factors that restrict the indigenous communities (e.g. tensions, seasonality, market constraints, macro-environmental effects) and NGOs (e.g. strategic limitations and activity constraints) in operationalising tourism benefits. Finally, based on the empirical evidence and considering the existence of a development gap, the study concludes that NGO-facilitated tourism involvement (both direct and indirect) can make a contribution to indigenous poverty alleviation; i however, this could best be viewed as an additional tool rather than an alternative tool to their traditional livelihood practices. This thesis contributes to the broader discussion of externally-facilitated tourism involvement for indigenous communities, as well as to the debate over the tourism-indigenous poverty nexus from such involvement. In doing so, the thesis reflects a combination of theoretical, conceptual and methodological contributions with associated practical implications. It incorporates the understanding of the key elements of stakeholder identification and salience theory (power, legitimacy and urgency) along with the poverty alleviation determinants (opportunity, empowerment and security) from the anti-poverty tourism research framework. The study demonstrates the utility of this conjoined conceptual approach that provides a conceptual schema to facilitate and extend our current understanding of the NGO-tourism-indigenous poverty nexus. The thesis also adds to our current understanding of community-based tourism from a non-western research perspective, and revealing the challenges and related opportunities in the conducting of research with indigenous communities, and by non-indigenous researchers. ii Acknowledgements This PhD research journey has been a fascinating period of my life. This journey owes acknowledgement and thanks to a number of people and organisations. At first, I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude to my PhD supervisors, Professor Brent Lovelock and Dr Anna Carr. No words are enough to express your contribution to this journey. Without your continuous guidance, critical observations and inspiration, it would not have been possible for me to finish this journey. I am greatly indebted to you both for your endless support, even when you have been away for research leave. Thanks again for being with me all the way. Undoubtedly, all my research participants deserve special thanks for their participation and cooperation. Thank you all for your input, which shaped this research. I will never forget the warmth of the people of the Lawachara Khasia Punji and Faruk Para Bawm community. I am grateful to the University of Otago for the Doctoral Scholarship. I sincerely acknowledge the support of the departmental staff and PhD students throughout this journey. Thanks, Abrar, for your never-ending inspiration and for sharing your experiences all the way. Thanks to Pip, Karen and Trudi for all the administrative support. I also want to convey my gratitude to Jahangirnagar University for granting me the study leave to pursue this degree. I would especially like to thank Professor Farid and Professor Humayun in Bangladesh for their inspiration and for introducing me to the world of academia. Also, a huge thanks goes to my friend Shoeb for his caring and sharing. It would be inappropriate if I do not also acknowledge the cooperation of Moonmoon, Aowal, Mahedi, Candice and Leo in different stages of this journey. To my wife and best friend – Easnin, thank you for counting on me and being by my side in all my necessities. In the beginning, it was not an easy decision to come alone here to New Zealand. But you gave me the belief that our love would bring us together, and it really happened with your arrival in New Zealand as one of my PhD colleagues. I am proud of you. You have sacrificed a lot to make this journey a nicer and smoother one for me. You are the most precious gift in my life. Most importantly, to my parents, Md Nurul Hoque and Josna Akter, I am grateful to you for your unconditional love and inspiration. You taught me how to face every situation with courage and hope. I promised you, your naughty child will never give up. Finally, I want to thank all my family members and friends for keeping me in prayers. iii Table of contents Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………………………. i Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………………….. iii Table of contents ……………………………………………………………....……………………. iv List of Tables ……………………..………………………………………………………………..... x List of Figures ...…………………………………...…………………………….………………….. xi Acronyms and abbreviations ..……….……………………………………………………...……… xii Glossary ………………...…………………………………………………………………...…….. xiii Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Background ………………....…..………………………………………….…….…..…….……..1 1.2 Research aim and objectives ….………………………….…………...……..…….….….…........ 3 1.3 The sites of the study ….……………………………………………….……….....….......….…... 4 1.4 Thesis structure …………………………………………………….……...… ………...........….. 5 Chapter 2 Community-based tourism and indigenous tourism: an overview 2.1 Introduction .…………………………………………………………………………….……….. 7 2.2 Community-based tourism (CBT) ………………………………………………..…………….... 7 2.2.1 CBT: conception and characteristics …….…………….……….…………………..….…..... 7 2.2.2 CBT approaches: bottom-up and top-down ………….………...…….……….…...….…..... 10 2.2.3 Possible benefits of CBT …………..………………………………….……….….………... 11 2.2.4 CBT challenges …………………………………………………...……………..…….…. 14 2.2.5 CBT success criteria…………………………...………………….………….….…….…… 16 2.3 Indigenous people and tourism……………………………………….……………….…….….. 18 2.3.1 Key elements of indigenous tourism …………………………….….………….……….…. 21 2.3.2 Possible benefits of indigenous tourism …………………….……..…..……................….... 23 2.3.3 Key challenges to indigenous tourism ....……………………………….…..……….…....... 25 2.4 Community-based indigenous tourism (CBIT) …………………...………….…..…………..... 27 2.5 Chapter summary…………………….………………………………………………….……… 28 Chapter 3 NGOs, tourism and community development 3.1 Introduction ….………………………………………………….….……………………...…… 29 3.2 Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs) …………………………………………………....... 29 3.3 NGOs, development and developing countries…….………………………………..………….. 31 iv 3.4 NGOs in community development ………………………………………………………….…. 33 3.4.1 Bottom-up participatory approach and NGOs………………………………....…………… 33 3.4.2 Community empowerment and NGOs.……….………………………………...………….. 34 3.4.3 Community capacity building and NGOs ……………………………….……………..…... 35 3.5 Tourism and NGOs …………………………….………………………………………………. 37 3.5.1 NGOs, tourism and community interactions ………………………………..…………....... 40 3.5.2 Small scale tourism and NGOs …………………….………….……….………….……….. 41 3.6 The donors-NGOs-tourism nexus …………………………………....………………………… 45 3.7 Bangladesh: a