ABSTRACT
The impact of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on community-based tourism (CBT) is important for all developing nation. Rural community development is in the heart of the SDGs. CBT can be regarded as a “community development tool” that strengthens the ability of rural communities to manage tourism resources while ensuring the local community’s participation. Hence, the aim of this chapter is to provide a methodology using a step by step toolkit to prepare, develop and sustain CBT. The tool is based on benchmarking the best practices in both developing and developed nations in responsible rural tourism development. The focus of the chapter provides understanding of the long-term viability of CBT as a development tool in rural tourism and how the best practice from the Asia Pacific region can be used to strategise a nine-stage plan. The nine steps presented are developed from the case studies. This chapter is designed to provide guidance for tourism and rural planners, non-government organisations (NGOs), industry players and CBT organizations in deciding whether tourism could work for a particular community and if it is feasible to be sustained over the long term.
