IT'S an interesting report that on 2005 United Nations make a review on “The Contribution of Tourism to Poverty Alleviation” published by ESCAP (Economic and Social Commission for Asia and The Pacific) number 25. They mentions some best practice from countries like Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Lao, Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, Philippines, Srilanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam. The countries above have any experiences for tourism development and poverty alleviation. On Indonesia since 1990s tourism has shown significant growth as indicated by increased number of both domestic and international tourists. Tourism has had an impact on goods and services, employment, wages, and salaries, the total national wages and GDP. However due to the impact of 9, 11th 2001 and the Bali tragedy (12th October 2002)the number of international arrivals dropped to 5,033 million and the average length of stay began to decrease. As a result, foreign exchange earnings dropped to only $US 4.5 billion. Several initiative for poverty alleviation through tourism development are possible under government of Indonesia initiatives.
From the UN-ESCAP Report, a charming view is on “understanding poverty”, it is an eye catching for people who study economic-development. Here I put some chapter:
(a) Understanding poverty
Since the 1950s, there have been attempts to understand poverty at different levels. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) defined poverty as the deprivation of essential assets and opportunities to which every human is entitled. The ADB argued that everyone should have access to basic education and primary health services. Poor households have the right to sustain themselves by their labour, be reasonably rewarded and have some protection from external shocks. Beyond income and basic services, individuals and societies are poor and tend to remain so, if they are not empowered to participate in making the decisions that shape their lives.
The World Bank described poverty in a similar holistic manner while specifying its various dimensions: levels of income and consumption, social factors, vulnerability to risks and access to sound socio-political conditions. However, poverty has been most commonly understood in terms of income levels and has usually been measured against a poverty line, such as the one set by the World Bank at US$ 1 per day. There is a general consensus among people and organizations in the development community that to effectively carry out the mission against poverty it should be understood in all of its forms and dimensions.
ESCAP has focused on the various dimensions of poverty and has stated:
Poverty essentially has three closely interrelated aspects: poverty of money, poverty of access and poverty of power. These make the working, living and social environments of the poor extremely insecure and severely limit the options available to them to improve their lives. Without choices and security, breaking the cycle of poverty becomes virtually impossible and leads to the marginalization and alienation of the poor from society
(b) Dimensions and causes of poverty
According to the World Bank, the broad causes of poverty cover three general dimensions. First, there is the lack of income and assets to obtain basic necessities (such as, food, shelter, clothing and acceptable levels of health and education). Assets can be described as good health, the skills necessary for achieving employment, access to basic infrastructure, money in savings or access to credit. In addition, there are social assets, such as a network of contacts and reciprocal obligations which can be called on in a time of need. Social assets can be essential in moving from poverty to a state of well-being.
Second, poverty involves a sense of being powerless and unheard in various social institutions. This includes unfair sociological conditions where the poor are faced with inhumane treatment, lack of protection against violence, intimidation and lack of civility and unpredictability in their interactions with public officials.
Third, poverty includes a vulnerability to adverse shocks linked to an inability to cope with them. The poor are susceptible to various risks of health, natural or human-made hazards and often are incapable of economically, socially, physically and emotionally recovering from these shocks.
While these are the broad and immediate causes of poverty, there are also global causes of poverty, encompassing issues such as national and regional economic growth, the impact of globalization, inequality of income distribution and instability in governance. At the local level, poverty is manifested in the form of poor health and lack of access to good medical facilities, illiteracy, irregular income, informal employment, lack of land tenure for housing, lack of basic infrastructure, and so forth. At the national level, it is usually measured in relation to the GDP of the country.
(c) Understanding the difference between urban and rural poverty
The usual estimate of a poverty line set at US$ 1 per person per day is often too low when considering that the urban poor have other non food-related costs, such as transportation, education, housing, water, sanitation, health care and medicines. The complexities of urban systems, the higher cost of living in urban areas and a variety of factors such as tenure insecurity, unfavourable urban governance and policies, means that urban poverty measures and strategies for poverty reduction have to be different from those in rural areas.
In rural areas, most livelihoods depend on access to land and/or water for raising crops and livestock or access to forests and fisheries. In urban areas, poor people depend more on income to satisfy their basic needs. Poor people in rural areas have access to various assets to satisfy their basic needs such as production of food and exchange of goods for other necessary goods.
(d) Role of tourism in poverty reduction
As a tool for poverty reduction, the challenge for tourism is how and where to intervene in order to provide better opportunities, empowerment and security to poor people at the local level, in addition to stimulating economic growth at national and regional levels. Pro-poor tourism can be introduced simultaneously in rural and urban areas and thus open various opportunities and increase access not only for tourists but for local residents. Tourism can increase opportunities for the rural poor in their own communities. It has the potential to help reduce rural out-migration to urban areas, increase employment opportunities for the urban poor due to tourism, and give people additional income to provide for their families in rural areas.
Tourism is thus an appropriate mechanism for poverty reduction. It contributes to economic growth and can also have social, environmental and cultural benefits and costs. Tourism provides employment opportunities by diversifying and increasing income, which reduces the vulnerability of poor people. As a result of increased national income (foreign exchange earnings and taxation), additional funds can be diverted to poverty reduction programmes.
Tourism directly responds to poverty reduction objectives, because the WTO has argued that it:
• Unlocks opportunities for pro-poor economic growth by providing formal and informal employment
• Creates profit and collective income from locally-owned enterprises
• Facilitates social development by increasing access to infrastructure, providing local people with the opportunity to access tourism infrastructure.
• Helps increase participation of the local communities in decision-making as tourism products are often assets owned by the poor
• Reduces vulnerability by helping to diversify income opportunities
• Promotes environmental protection as the natural and human environment are the life lines of tourism development.
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Masih menyelesaikan tesis di Magister Perencanaan, Fakultas Ekonomi, Universitas Indonesia. Doakan saya. Jakarta 31 Oktober 2007
From the UN-ESCAP Report, a charming view is on “understanding poverty”, it is an eye catching for people who study economic-development. Here I put some chapter:
(a) Understanding poverty
Since the 1950s, there have been attempts to understand poverty at different levels. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) defined poverty as the deprivation of essential assets and opportunities to which every human is entitled. The ADB argued that everyone should have access to basic education and primary health services. Poor households have the right to sustain themselves by their labour, be reasonably rewarded and have some protection from external shocks. Beyond income and basic services, individuals and societies are poor and tend to remain so, if they are not empowered to participate in making the decisions that shape their lives.
The World Bank described poverty in a similar holistic manner while specifying its various dimensions: levels of income and consumption, social factors, vulnerability to risks and access to sound socio-political conditions. However, poverty has been most commonly understood in terms of income levels and has usually been measured against a poverty line, such as the one set by the World Bank at US$ 1 per day. There is a general consensus among people and organizations in the development community that to effectively carry out the mission against poverty it should be understood in all of its forms and dimensions.
ESCAP has focused on the various dimensions of poverty and has stated:
Poverty essentially has three closely interrelated aspects: poverty of money, poverty of access and poverty of power. These make the working, living and social environments of the poor extremely insecure and severely limit the options available to them to improve their lives. Without choices and security, breaking the cycle of poverty becomes virtually impossible and leads to the marginalization and alienation of the poor from society
(b) Dimensions and causes of poverty
According to the World Bank, the broad causes of poverty cover three general dimensions. First, there is the lack of income and assets to obtain basic necessities (such as, food, shelter, clothing and acceptable levels of health and education). Assets can be described as good health, the skills necessary for achieving employment, access to basic infrastructure, money in savings or access to credit. In addition, there are social assets, such as a network of contacts and reciprocal obligations which can be called on in a time of need. Social assets can be essential in moving from poverty to a state of well-being.
Second, poverty involves a sense of being powerless and unheard in various social institutions. This includes unfair sociological conditions where the poor are faced with inhumane treatment, lack of protection against violence, intimidation and lack of civility and unpredictability in their interactions with public officials.
Third, poverty includes a vulnerability to adverse shocks linked to an inability to cope with them. The poor are susceptible to various risks of health, natural or human-made hazards and often are incapable of economically, socially, physically and emotionally recovering from these shocks.
While these are the broad and immediate causes of poverty, there are also global causes of poverty, encompassing issues such as national and regional economic growth, the impact of globalization, inequality of income distribution and instability in governance. At the local level, poverty is manifested in the form of poor health and lack of access to good medical facilities, illiteracy, irregular income, informal employment, lack of land tenure for housing, lack of basic infrastructure, and so forth. At the national level, it is usually measured in relation to the GDP of the country.
(c) Understanding the difference between urban and rural poverty
The usual estimate of a poverty line set at US$ 1 per person per day is often too low when considering that the urban poor have other non food-related costs, such as transportation, education, housing, water, sanitation, health care and medicines. The complexities of urban systems, the higher cost of living in urban areas and a variety of factors such as tenure insecurity, unfavourable urban governance and policies, means that urban poverty measures and strategies for poverty reduction have to be different from those in rural areas.
In rural areas, most livelihoods depend on access to land and/or water for raising crops and livestock or access to forests and fisheries. In urban areas, poor people depend more on income to satisfy their basic needs. Poor people in rural areas have access to various assets to satisfy their basic needs such as production of food and exchange of goods for other necessary goods.
(d) Role of tourism in poverty reduction
As a tool for poverty reduction, the challenge for tourism is how and where to intervene in order to provide better opportunities, empowerment and security to poor people at the local level, in addition to stimulating economic growth at national and regional levels. Pro-poor tourism can be introduced simultaneously in rural and urban areas and thus open various opportunities and increase access not only for tourists but for local residents. Tourism can increase opportunities for the rural poor in their own communities. It has the potential to help reduce rural out-migration to urban areas, increase employment opportunities for the urban poor due to tourism, and give people additional income to provide for their families in rural areas.
Tourism is thus an appropriate mechanism for poverty reduction. It contributes to economic growth and can also have social, environmental and cultural benefits and costs. Tourism provides employment opportunities by diversifying and increasing income, which reduces the vulnerability of poor people. As a result of increased national income (foreign exchange earnings and taxation), additional funds can be diverted to poverty reduction programmes.
Tourism directly responds to poverty reduction objectives, because the WTO has argued that it:
• Unlocks opportunities for pro-poor economic growth by providing formal and informal employment
• Creates profit and collective income from locally-owned enterprises
• Facilitates social development by increasing access to infrastructure, providing local people with the opportunity to access tourism infrastructure.
• Helps increase participation of the local communities in decision-making as tourism products are often assets owned by the poor
• Reduces vulnerability by helping to diversify income opportunities
• Promotes environmental protection as the natural and human environment are the life lines of tourism development.
.jpg)
Masih menyelesaikan tesis di Magister Perencanaan, Fakultas Ekonomi, Universitas Indonesia. Doakan saya. Jakarta 31 Oktober 2007
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