https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2667-4794
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Abstract
This paper investigates the relative importance of social and cultural capitals in (re)shaping a tourism resource governance approach for supporting sustainable livelihood outcomes. We apply a ‘Capitals Co-management for Sustainable Livelihood Framework (CCSLF)’ in a remote case study setting of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), Bangladesh. Within this setting, culturally distant communities living within an environment of historical political distrust provide a highly nuanced context to our investigation. Based on data collected through multiple qualitative methods, we found that power structures and politics play the central role in resource allocation, and thereby hindering community involvement in the decision-making processes. As an engagement mechanism, bridging social capital can play a significant role in facilitating the establishment of co-management structures, through which the community can exercise greater say over the deployment of common property or community resources in tourism development. For a tourism destination comprised of diverse social groups and associated cultural capitals, a co-management structure is seen as having its best application at micro- or local community-levels. This investigation challenges destination area planners to explore the various dimensions of social and cultural capitals to support (community) tourism development.
Acknowledgements
This paper reports the findings from the lead author’s Doctoral dissertation. Doctoral study of the lead author was funded by ‘New Zealand Aid’ and awarded as ‘NZ Commonwealth Scholarship 2014’. The authors would like to thank New Zealand Government and Lincoln University (Postgraduate School) for allocating fund to complete this study.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1 Or ‘Parbatya Chattagram’ in Bengali, an Indo-Aryan language.
2 The word ‘Bengali’ here indicates people from the broader community in Bangladesh, who are living predominantly throughout the country.
3 The word ‘Indigenous’ here indicates peoples from the eleven ethnic groups who reside in the CHT.
4 A Upazila is a ‘sub-district’ administrative region of local government in Bangladesh.
5 A Bengali word indicating ‘central point’ or ‘headquarter’.
6 ‘Adi’ here, is interpreted to indicate Bengali residents in the region since the British colonial regime.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Muhammad Shoeb-Ur- Rahman
Dr Muhammad Shoeb-Ur-Rahman is an Associate Professor of Tourism and Hospitality Management at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. He holds a PhD in Tourism Management from Lincoln University, New Zealand and MBA in Tourism and Hospitality Management from University of Dhaka. His research interests include sustainable tourism, tourism management, tourism planning and policies, tourism governance, crisis and resilience in tourism systems, and destination development. Dr Rahman has presented his papers in reputed international tourism conferences and published 14 refereed papers and nine book chapters. He also co-edited a book titled Tourism Policy and Planning in Bangladesh (Springer, 2020).
David Simmons
Dr David Simmons is Emeritus Professor of Tourism at Lincoln University (New Zealand), and Adjunct Professor, Griffith University, Australia. The primary focus of his academic work is: tourism policy, planning and development; tourism governance, and management. From 2008 – 2010 he was Director of Research for the Australian Federal Government's ‘Sustainable Tourism CRC’ before returning to Lincoln University. He has contributed to formal tourism planning exercises in more than 7 countries including Cambodia, Mauritius, Nepal, and India. In 2015, David was elected as a fellow to the International Academy for the Study of Tourism and chairs the EarthCheck Global Research Institute that provides science and benchmarking for evidencing pathways to sustainable tourism. Professor Simmons has published 3 books (2 electronic); 26 Book Chapters; 35 refereed papers; and in excess of 65 technical and industry reports.
Michael C. Shone
Dr Michael C. Shone is Manager – Research, Scholarships, and Postgraduate Studies at Ara Institute of Canterbury (New Zealand). His research expertise is focused principally on tourism public policy and planning, with particular reference to the use of tourism as a regional development mechanism by all levels of government. Dr Shone has published internationally on destination development issues relating to sustainable tourism, marine tourism and cruise tourism, as well as community perspectives on tourism development. Dr Shone has also contributed to research programmes aimed at better understanding the tourism host–guest encounter, and improving the environmental performance of the tourist industry. He has contributed to national commentary on a range of tourism development issues, and has also participated in the development of a tourism planning toolkit for local government, with international uptake.
Nazmun N. Ratna
Nazmun N. Ratna is a development economist by training and teaches at the Faculty of Agribusiness and Commerce, Lincoln University. She specializes in institutions, diversity and social capital, gender, and sustainable development. After completing the Ph.D. degree from the ANU, she has dedicated much of her time to research the institutions-food security-sustainability nexus in South Asia (Bangladesh, Nepal, and India), Southeast Asia (Viet Nam), and Africa (Nigeria and Malawi). Currently, she is part of two international research consortiums and has been tasked to quantify women empowerment in two externally funded projects on (i) the horticultural value chain and nutrition for rural households in Bangladesh and India, funded by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (B&MGF) and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), and (ii) safe migration of Bangladeshi women migrant workers for domestic and readymade garments sector to the Middle East, funded by the FCDO.