The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal 8 (2030) explicitly encourages all countries to focus on economic growth and employment of their citizens. Closely related to this, is the pro-poor tourism approach. This article outlines strategies for pro-poor tourism development in Zimbabwe with the intention of enhancing local economic development in order to attempt to alleviate poverty in poor communities. The study adopted a documentary analysis methodology where it relied on secondary sources to critically argue pro-poor strategies and avenues that Zimbabwe tourism industry could adopt to enhance Local Economic Development in poor communities. The analysis showed that, Zimbabwe has previously focused on historically well-celebrated destinations and attractions, it now also need to harness possible tourist sites in poor communities so as to foster pro-poor local development. There is an urgent need for Zimbabwe to have good tourism governance processes and systems that will enable the effective attainment of pro-poor local economic development objectives. The study further noted the need to enhance economic opportunities for poor people to pursue tourism ventures and obtain a fair livelihood. Zimbabwe, further requires an urban renewal programme with an clear focus on urban regeneration to promote urban or township tourism in high density spaces in an effort to alleviate poverty and promote sustainability.

Nyanyadzi ward falls under the Chimanimani district and it is located in Manicaland province in the eastern part of Zimbabwe. The people in Nyanyadzi ward are poor emanating from very high temperatures and variable rainfall, making agriculture an almost impossible survival plan for the people. The residents tried to resolve to mining but due to political disputes all efforts were in vain. This then promoted the idea of alleviating poverty in Nyanyadzi ward by developing rural tourism. This paper therefore seeks to analyse the potential and constraints of developing rural tourism as a poverty alleviation tool in Nyanyadzi ward. Tourism is known to develop any area be it urban or rural this is evidenced by rural tourism, urban tourism and presence of theme parks, but it can only be successful given that there is collaboration from all interested parties like the government, stakeholders and non-governmental organisations. However other authors argued that tourism benefits do not necessarily benefit the poor this then promoted the idea of focusing on the likely benefits of rural tourism development in a poor region and in a developing country in this case Zimbabwe. The researcher used a case study research design and made use of a thematic approach applying both qualitative and quantitative data method in analysing data. The researcher used a key informant technique in selecting respondents for the interviews, the researcher also targeted people and tourism resources available in Nyanyadzi ward. The results from the study revealed that there is potential to develop rural tourism in Nyanyadzi ward this was seen by the presence of existing tourism products and facilities like hotels and craft centres that could be used to promote cultural tourism, sizeable dams that could be used to promote sport tourism however absence of a tourism committee to implement tourism policies was one constraint that hindered the development of rural tourism in Nyanyadzi ward. The researcher designed a model encompassing the recommendation for the development of rural tourism that suggests the need for rural tourism committee that will create a vision and to guide how rural tourism can be developed and outlining key success factors for the development and later on strong marketing for the area through media and also communication of proposed plan to the government and stakeholders. The researcher further proposes that there is need to look at the potential of rural tourism development in other parts of Zimbabwe that have an existing tourism product in the rural set up for example in areas like Matebebeland.

Globally, tourism is becoming one of the cornerstones of national economic growth and as a means of poverty alleviation, especially in the tourist attractions in rural areas. This article assesses the levels of utilization of tourism potentials in Zambia, in general, and the Mukuni village in the Southern province in Zambia, in particular, with reference to poverty reduction. The world famous Victoria Falls is situated in the Southern province and therefore this area is the most visited places in Zambia and attracts more tourists throughout the whole year. The main income of the local people, which includes the Tonga tribe comes from tourism. Even though tourism has brought positive results, including the realization of some local development projects and prosperity to the people, it has also brought some negative effects such as sociocultural change, pollution and waste in the tourist destination areas in Zambia.For the Mukuni people and Zambia as a whole to fully exploit tourism p...

This article examines the perceptions of local people concerning the potential of tourism to alleviate poverty and bring about community development in the Manicaland Province, Zimbabwe. In-depth interviews, direct observations, and informal conversations were used to collect data in the four districts of Manicaland where there were functional community-based tourism (CBT) projects. After establishing a poverty criterion, data were collected from 43 local poor people in the four districts of the case study area. The results show that tourism development in Manicaland brought about community development through social, economic, environmental and cultural benefits. The authors suggest that there are interrelationships between tourism, poverty alleviation and community development. They show these interrelationships through a tourism and community-development framework which they developed based upon the results of the various methods of data collection used in this study.

The study was about the role of tourism in poverty reduction in Magambo Subcounty in Rubirizi district and was guided by the following objectives: To examine the relationship between tourism and poverty reduction in Magambo Subcounty in Rubirizi district, to assess the barriers to poverty alleviation in Magambo Subcounty in Rubirizi district and to establish the perceptions and experiences of poor people in Magambo Subcounty in Rubirizi district. The study used a population of 200 individuals who comprised of Tour operators, tourism officials and the community members and a sample of 130 respondents. The research design that was used is a descriptive analytical study that consisted of both Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Generally, this research explored primary and secondary data about the role of tourism in poverty reduction in Uganda with specific objectives. Findings indicate that out of 130 respondents who were reached,50(38.5%) respondents said that tourism brings the jobs to mostly the youth and the women followed by 40(30.8%) of the respondents who said that it is a Source of direct revenue to the local people and 20(15.4%) of the respondents said that tourism promotes the programmes geared at the development of the local people and also promotes modernization. Findings revealed that lack of capital that was represented by 53.8% of the respondents, lack of education and knowledge that was represented by 50(38.5%) of the respondents and preference of low risk and low profit options represented by 10(7.7%) of the respondents were the main barriers to poverty alleviation in Magambo Subcounty in Rubirizi district. Findings also indicates that 60(46.1%) of the respondents revealed that Poverty is attributed to attitudes and behaviour of poor people and people perceive poverty as being caused by lack of arable land and unfavorable climatic conditions and 10(7.6%) of the respondents perceive that the poor people have no choice. The study suggests the following recommendations. To expand employment benefits from tourism, the study suggests that the governments and other tourist stakeholders should provide tourism education to her 72 people, as many business owners list a lack of skilled labor as a key challenge. This should be given especial high attention in Rubirizi district because the study noted that the tourism sector in Rubirizi district is experiencing problems in the recruitment and retention of competent skilled managers and middle management staff. Most of the big hotels hire managers from outside Rubirizi district. Tourism and its related activities should be promoted not only for accessibility of infrastructure, but also for empowering individual or collective group of local communities who are willing to engage in the tourism related activities in order to increase benefits for local communities within and outside the study areas with tourist attractions. The study suggests that the government should ensure viable, long-term economic operations, providing socioeconomic benefits to all tourism stakeholders that are fairly distributed, including stable employment and income-earning opportunities and social services to host communities and contributing to poverty alleviation SECTION ONE: INTRODUCTION Background to the Study This research examines the interrelationships between tourism, poverty alleviation in Magambo village in Rubirizi district. Building upon the perceived contribution of tourism to economic growth (

Increase in the number of people living in poverty in the world has led to an increasing search for strategies to address the situation, and tourism has been identified as one of the relevant tools for reducing poverty. The paper assesses the role that tourism can play in addressing the needs of the residents of the Lake Bosomtwe Basin. A study conducted in a traditional area in Ghana placed “the poor” in the centre of the search for appropriate strategies to tackle poverty. A resident’s survey undertaken in January 2006 reveals that the residents are fully aware of the problems of the area, and also, have an adequate knowledge of how tourism tied in to their needs. The paper confirmed the essential role tourism can play in reducing poverty and realizing other developmental goals. Based on the nature of the needs of the residents (hospital, potable water, good roads and security), it was concluded that their needs were compatible with the goals of sustainable tourism development as ...

Tourism is a fast-growing global industry that can have an important role in national development, poverty reduction and inclusion in countries of the Global South. In the context of the Sustainable Development Goals, the role of the tourism industry is increasingly seen from a pro-poor perspective as in the Pro-Poor Tourism (PPT) approach to facilitate the growth of responsible and sustainable tourism sectors. This thesis analyses the structure and challenges of Malawi's tourism sector, in particularly on highlighting the relevant conditions in the tourism industry that support and hinder access and benefits for local communities to the Malawi tourism production network. Interviews were conducted in Lilongwe, Mzuzu and Nkhotakota with actors and stakeholders in the tourism sector focusing on the case study of the Pottery Lodge in Nkhotakota to outline their perception of PPT strategies and potential impacts of such initiatives. The thesis shows that taking into account the stru...

In less developed destinations, rapid commercial tourism development has gradually suppressed local communities’ central participation in tourist activities. While the literature suggests a number of roles that local residents can play in tourism development, to date very little emphasis has been placed on how the locals themselves feel about the issue, despite it being explained in tourist destinations’ policy configurations. Based on the case of Victoria Falls, this paper’s aim was to understand the degree of community involvement in tourism development, with the intention of finding a way to advance host community stimuli in terms of policy formulation and implementation. Through the series of 270 household surveys and interviews with resource persons conducted, the findings revealed that the local community’s involvement and participation was mainly linked to economic activities and employment. Furthermore, the local communities wanted to be involved, and incorporated in, the pr...