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SMALL-SCALE TOURISM YIELDS LARGE-SCALE BENEFITS
Gülden Türköz Cosslett
JANUARY 2008 (IPS) - Innovative national leaders and forward-looking planners from
around the world have proven that tourism that features authentic
culture, nature, and experiences creates more opportunities in
local communities than any other type of tourism, writes Gülden
Türköz Cosslett, UN Coordinator and UN Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative in Albania.
At the village or town
level, nature and culture-oriented tourism permits small-scale
businesses to be successful tourism operators based on their own
knowledge and experience, and with relatively low capital
investment. Tourist spending is local, and tends to stay in the
community, spread across a number of individuals in the community,
and circulating in the local economy - the so-called "economic
multiplier effect".
A study carried out in Costa Rica found that the positive economic
impact of nature and culture tourism on a small community can be five
to 10 times greater per dollar of tourist spending than for an
all-inclusive mass tourism destination. Nature and culture tourism
requires less public infrastructure and lower levels of private
investment per visitor.
/NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN AUSTRALIA, CANADA, NEW ZEALAND, CZECH REPUBLIC, IRELAND, POLAND, UNITED STATES OR UNITED KINGDOM/ (END/2008)
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