As seen on our last post, the Community-Based Tourism or CBT is one of the ways to practice Sustainable Tourism while traveling. Let's talk a little more about it?
What is Community-Based Tourism?
The CBT is a way of doing tourism in wich the local community is the protagonist of the experience. The community welcomes the travelers in their homes and organizes activities to show the daily life and the culture of its residents. Besides that they have as a pillar the sustainability (sociocultural, economic and environmental).
It's held primarily in traditional communities, in other words, groups that have a different culture from the predominant in society and that recognize themselves that way. Some examples are the caiçaras (fishermen), riverside, indigenous and quilombola peoples.
Benefits for the traveler and for the local community
The traveler that chooses this kind of experience finds an authentic experience, different from the standardization of the mass tourism. The immersion in a new culture and the true exchange with the local residents provide new learnings, which can transform the worldview of those who travel. Most local communities have great respect and care for nature, therefore they can be an inspiration for travelers to see their relationship with the environment differently. Furthermore, as the experiences are done in small groups, they allow greater integration and less negative impact on the visited places.
For the communities, besides generating income, the sustainable tourism promotes the appreciation of local culture and may even strengthen the group's sense of identity. It is also a way of giving visibility to these cultures so they can have more voice and respect in our society
The Community-Based Tourism is a solution for the practice of a more conscious and authentic tourism, besides promoting the Sustainable Development of the traditional communities and a more humane tourism.
Examples of CBT in Brazil
An example of Community-Based Tourism in Brazil is the experiences in indigenous communities, which have been gaining ground mainly in tourism in the Amazon rainforest. More and morem travelers are looking for truthful and sustainable ways to discover the largest tropical forest in the world.
Braziliando promotes CBT experiences co-created with a riverside and indigenous community from a Sustainable Development Reserve near Manaus (AM). In this experience, travelers stay with a family and do various activities with locals to learn more about their culture and connect with nature. You can search for more information here.
Community tourism outside Brazil
Not only in Brazil you will find authentic experiences that involve local people and care about the environmental impact. Ana and Tereza, partners of Braziliando, have already embarked, for example, on a genuine experience in the south of the Baru island, in Cartagena, promoted by Taroa Adventures. In this experience, they tasted the typical local food, listened to the stories and legends of the community members as they walked through the village and got to know a different and unexplored part of the beautiful Colombian beaches.
Ana also had the opportunity to visit the headquarters of Local Alike in Thailand, which promotes experiences of Community-Based Tourism and Responsible Tourism in the region.
So, where would you like to live an experience like this? Tell us in the comments!
