EVOLUTION AND RESILIENCE IN COMMUNITY-BASED TOURISM: A 25-YEAR COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW AND POST-PANDEMIC TRAJECTORIES (2001-2025)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14456/tmsr.2025.7Keywords:
Community-Based Tourism, Post-Pandemic Recovery, Tourism Resilience, Regenerative Tourism, Digital TransformationAbstract
This comprehensive review examines the evolution and transformative pathways of Community-Based Tourism (CBT) over 25 years (2001-2025), addressing significant gaps in epoch-specific analyses. Utilizing a documentary research approach, the study synthesizes developments in CBT across economic, socio-cultural, environmental, and governance dimensions, with a specific focus on Southeast Asian case studies. The analysis is delineated into three distinct phases. The pre-COVID-19 era (2001-2019) highlights CBT's rapid growth as a critical alternative to mass tourism, fostering multidimensional local empowerment while exposing persistent challenges, including overtourism, inequitable distribution of benefits, and capacity deficits. The COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021) caused unprecedented industry disruption and severely impacted tourism-dependent livelihoods; however, it simultaneously catalyzed rapid digital adaptation and underscored the absolute necessity of community resilience. Finally, the post-COVID-19 epoch (2022-2025) reveals an uneven global recovery characterized by digital transformation, the strategic integration of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles, and the emergence of regenerative tourism frameworks. Ultimately, the future sustainability of CBT relies on robust local governance, equitable resource sharing, diversified income streams, and the strategic application of responsible technologies to build a resilient ecosystem that genuinely empowers host communities.
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