From Relief to Self-reliance: Developing Community-based Tourism After the Tsunami Speech to the Global Ecotourism Conference, May 15, 2007 Hello, my name is Bodhi Garrett. Thanks to the marvels of technology, I am coming to you live from the offices of Andaman Discoveries in Kuraburi, Thailand. I will be talking about Relief to Self-reliance: Developing Community-based Tourism After the Tsunami. For the communities of the Andaman coast, the tsunami brought with a great number of changes. Entire villages were relocated, livelihoods were lost, and so on. Initially, grief and despair were prevalent among survivors. Inaction is no antidote to despair. Taking action to create positive change, on the other hand, can transform grief into happiness. Inspiringly, many communities have created new opportunities in the wake of their losses in the tsunami. What is Andaman Discoveries? Based in Southern Thailand, Andaman Discoveries promotes community development through respectful tourism and education. Since our inception last year, Andaman Discoveries has been continuing the work of North Andaman Tsunami Relief. North Andaman Tsunami Relief is active in the tsunami impacted provinces of Phang-Nga and Ranong. We focus on the diverse needs of eight communities, working toward their longterm economic, social, and environmental sustainability. What do we do? Our tourism-focused projects take place in the traditional fishing villages of Tung Nang Dam and Ban Talae Nok. Andaman Discoveries sponsors a number of projects that contribute to the development of respectful tourism. These include: • language instruction • guide and homestay training • community centers • long-term marketing This combined approach helps to make sure that tourism and community development go hand in hand.
Developing Community-based Tourism After the Tsunami Currently, visitors can take part in homestay, island tours, jungle hikes, cultural exchange, and volunteer activities such as teaching and mangrove restoration. Since the start of our tourism development project last year, over 200 guests have visited, generating a total of $10,000 as direct income to villagers, and another $1,800 for the community fund. How did we get here? The story of Andaman Discoveries begins in the village of Ban Talae Nok. The natural beauty, the openness of the people, and the warmth of traditional Thai Muslim culture I experienced caused me to fall in love with the area. The tsunami had a devastating effect on Ban Talae Nok, killing 47 of 228 people, and washing half the village away. Our first projects were emergency relief, but even with their basic needs met, most people had nothing to do and no savings. So, livelihood development became a priority. Based on the popularity of nearby Khao Lak and Phuket, communities quickly recognized the potential of tourism development. Women in particular needed part-time work, a source of income that was compatible with their household duties. Yet, as we talked with community members, they expressed concern that tourism would undermine their cultural traditions, spiritual practice, and pristine environment. After careful consideration, the villagers decided to pursue community-based tourism as a way to generate income and support the continuity of their culture. As with all forms of community assistance, developing respectful tourism isn't just about a workshop, it is a range of efforts. By engaging a community on multiple levels, projects reinforce each other. For example, the father of a local family may be part of the guide group, the mother involved in the community center, and the kids helping with conservation projects. Thus, our projects in Ban Talae Nok take place in the context of a development continuum, which evolved after the tsunami as follows: • Relief • Empowerment • Education • Training • Opportunity • Ongoing support Today, I will describe projects designed to bring together community development and respectful tourism, and that can be replicated elsewhere. If details on any of these projects might be useful, please contact me. So, first on the continuum after relief is Empowerment: We are publishing the “Sense of Place” book – a description of the local way of life the villagers’ own words. The book, with plenty of color pictures, is meant to build pride in local culture, and has also served as a base for developing tourism activities.
info@AndamanDiscoveries.com
www. AndamanDiscoveries.com
Developing Community-based Tourism After the Tsunami As an interesting aside, early tourism workshops in some villages led community members to conclude that tourism is not always the answer - some communities don’t want it, and it is simply not feasible in others. We also built community centers. These buildings create a space for exchange within the community and serve as a bridge to the outside world. In Ban Talae Nok, our community center hosts daycare, senior programs, health workshops, government meetings, and aerobics classes. After empowerment, we turned our attention Education: Education in BTN was open to all community members, and not focused solely on tourism. Above is a picture of Cha, she is the manager of the community center in Ban Talae Nok, and involved in many of our projects, you will be hearing more about her. Cha is coordinating a basic adult education course at the community center, helping adults learn how to read, write, and obtain their highschool diploma. Cha also coordinates our scholarship program, providing stipends to children of the neediest families In addition to general education, we provide Training: For those with interest and ability, we have provided opportunities for skill development in tourism. Our training style was not academic, and it relied heavily on local knowledge. We held an intensive, six-month vocational training with 26 community members that focused on Adventure, Community, and Eco Tourism. Specific topics included small business, community development, English, computers, and guiding. We also provided in-village English lessons to villagers involved in tourism and handicrafts. We also produced easy-to-read handbooks for homestay hospitality, guiding, and simple English. Perhaps the most beneficial training came in the form of pilot tours‌in which volunteers and brave guests helped the villagers develop their own style of hospitality One of the challenging, steps has been Opportunity: Without opportunity, development efforts fail to have long term benefit. We started by doing relief projects FOR community members, then we progressed to development projects WITH community members, now we are assisting with projects led BY community members. Recently, we have provided seed money for graduates of our training to lead their own projects, including orchid conservation, school lunches, and handicrafts. This process is slow, and requires patience, but it is the only way to build effective local leadership Marketing assistance is also critical to the success of most community tourism projects. To that end, Andaman Discoveries has provided a website, information center, brochures and media coverage. It takes money to make money, and the cost of marketing is often an insurmountable barrier for community tourism. info@AndamanDiscoveries.com
www. AndamanDiscoveries.com
Developing Community-based Tourism After the Tsunami
There are some opportunities that cannot be developed in a short time, necessitating Ongoing Support: Andaman Discoveries has served as a bridge between the communities and the outside world, for both communication and funding. We put a lot of energy into making sure that locals and tourists can engage in cultural exchange, by providing a translator, and hosting frequent feedback sessions. We have found that voluntourism is a great way to promote communication – these service-minded tourists are truly open to principle of exchange, and willing to be patient when things don’t go according to plan. We also can serve as a bridge for financial resources. Supporting our service projects solely with income from tourism necessitates an unsustainable volume of guests. The cost of our community services means we cannot operate on a strict business model. If we want to keep tourism linked to community development, ongoing funding is necessary for projects such as the community center, scholarships, and conservation. In fact, the conservation projects we sponsor in Ban Talae Nok are a good example of how our efforts encompass the whole continuum from relief to ongoing support: These efforts include mangrove restoration, waste management, a jungle trail, and GIS mapping. Designed and led by Cha and the villager tourism committee, the projects empower villagers to protect their own community, educate children by using them as volunteers, train locals in technical skills, and provide opportunity for future income by leading volunteer tourists All of these activities are based out of the community center, which is supported by international donations. And, true to the principal of exchange, tourists learn from the projects while they participate in village-led conservation. Conclusion Over the last two and a half years, it has been an honor to work with tsunami affected villages like Ban Talae Nok - to see new dreams come to life, to see development come from disaster Our communal efforts seem to be working, and can hopefully be replicated in other contexts. Our partners include Go Differently, EcoClub, REST, TIES, and the University of Birmingham Intervol project. We at Andaman Discoveries welcome cooperation - so feel free to send us respectful visitors, support our ongoing projects, or utilize the resources we have developed. The same spirit of international cooperation that allows me to speak to you from Thailand today is what allows us to work together in building a better future. Thank you for your efforts, and let's keep up the hard work.
info@AndamanDiscoveries.com
www. AndamanDiscoveries.com