2016 journal article

Power, altruism and communitarian tourism: A comparative study

PASOS-REVISTA DE TURISMO Y PATRIMONIO CULTURAL, 14(4), 889–906.

By: C. LaPan n, D. Morais n, C. Barbieri n & T. Wallace n

co-author countries: United States of America 🇺🇸
author keywords: Residents' perceptions; Communitarian tourism; Micro-entrepreneurship; Power; Altruism; Guatemala
Source: Web Of Science
Added: August 6, 2018

Residents of San Juan La Laguna and San Pedro La Laguna, neighboring towns on the shores of Lake Atitlán, Guatemala, have followed very different trajectories of tourism development despite their close proximity.This study explores residents' perceptions of the benefits and drawbacks of tourism development under two differing economic models and addresses weaknesses in current theoretical approaches.Findings from this ethnographic comparative case study indicate that prevailing theoretical constructs do not fully explain dynamics in non-western non-laissez faire capitalist contexts.Findings also suggest that strong community collaboration guided by governmental and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) can help to maintain tourism benefits locally, while at the same time preventing some of the costs of tourism development in destination communities.