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Free keywords:
Community-based tourism; regional
development; poverty reduction; livelihood approach;
Mt Kenya Guides and Porters Safari Club (GPSC);
Naro Moru; Kenya.
Abstract:
Can existing Afro-alpine
tourism promote poverty
mitigation and resolve
regional disparities? This
article explores the
significance of alpine
tourism in the Mt Kenya
region based on analysis
of the state of the art
and official statistical
data along with own surveys, mapping activities, and
household observations. The results show that economic
benefits from mountaineering tourism in the Mt Kenya
region are smaller than commonly calculated, and that low
and inconsistent incomes are distributed unevenly. There
are clear parallels to the critical situation in the Rwenzori
Mountains in Uganda: Alpine tourism does not reduce
regional income disparities and largely fails to promote
sustainable development. The article also takes a closer
look at the development effects of community-based
tourism, drawing from the example of the Mt Kenya Guides
and Porters Safari Club (GPSC), a community-based tourism
organization operating from Naro Moru, at the fertile
western foot of Mt Kenya. Results show that this form of
tourism stabilizes the livelihoods of rural households,
contributes to community welfare, and reduces the
vulnerability of families. The GPSC’s democratic
organizational structure with elected and regularly rotating
offices prevents the enrichment of only few members and
ensures even distribution of benefits to all members and to
the whole community. Overall, however, there is not enough
tourism in the study area to initiate sustainable regional
development in the foreseeable future.
