Capacity building through cooperation

Abstract

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In the introduction to this book it was suggested that the key question driving all the contributions in this book was - how can we improve the process of tourism development and enhance its benefits for destinations in developing, rural and/or peripheral regions? Our answer to this question is to improve community capacity building before the process of tourism planning even begins. This answer is supported by the literature and research evidence from health (see, e.g. Onyx et al., 2005; Hannah, 2006; George et al., 2007), education (see, e.g.Ishisaka et al., 2004; Chino and DeBruyn, 2006; Greenfields and Home, 2006)and agriculture (see, e.g. Dollahite et al., 2005; Lennie et al., 2005) which highlights the importance of the key elements of community capacity building occurring before specific development options or programmes are chosen or pursued. This answer is also supported by the literature and research evidence from networking (see, e.g. O'Neill and Whatmore, 2000; Tinsley and Lynch,2001; Huybers and Bennett, 2003; Novelli et al.,2006).