Lao tourism and poverty alleviation: community-based tourism and the private sector [co-authored with Stephen schipani]

Many less developed countries, supported by international organizations and aid agencies, continue to promote tourism as a tool for development and poverty alleviation. This chapter focuses on one country, the Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR), where such policies are prominent, to examine how they are promoted, and to see what light, if any, can be shed on the general debate over tourism's role as a development tool. In this context, it is argued that the distinction between 'pro-poor, community-based tourism' and tourism enterprises operating in the private sector, both in Lao PDR and elsewhere, may need to be re-assessed, as donor-supported, community-based tourism projects may be sustainable only in partnership with the private sector, while the pro-poor credentials of tourism enterprises in the private sector are frequently underrated.