ABSTRACT
Introduction ........................................................................................... 222 Experimenting with Poverty Reduction Strategies: The Troika of More Aid, Fairer Trade and Labor Mobility ......................................... 223 Cash Directly in the Hands of the Poor ................................................ 226 An Idea Crazy Enough to Enact Change: The Demand Pull Approach ........................................................................................ 229 Working for the Future .......................................................................... 235 References ............................................................................................. 238 Endnotes ................................................................................................ 240
INTRODUCTION
In the The White Man’s Burden, Easterly challenged those who are interested in helping the poor to come up with “crazy ideas.” We accept and address Easterly’s challenge in this chapter. We argued at the beginning of the book that the poor should be helped out of self-interest and that tourism can help the poor. Tourism did not disappoint. The previous chapters demonstrated that tourism can reduce poverty. We looked at several countries in Latin America, examining in depth how tourism development reaches the poor. We provided insights on the dynamic relationship between tourism and poverty reduction. We explored poverty and its impact upon development at the macro and micro levels through multiple research techniques. While the promise is clear and embedded in strong empirical evidence, we also account for potential pitfalls. After multiple conversations with the poor, we conclude tourism development has the seeds of promise and hope for a better future.
