The first step for an effective benefit-sharing mechanism in the CBT is to have an identifiable membership for the CBTO. It is common for CBTO members to register with a CBTO and pay predetermined membership fees. Additionally, communities should be able to identify their stakeholders with clarity

2. Well-established institutions: Members of any community have different backgrounds and interests. It is important that they have a legitimate local community institution that is respected by the community and provides an interface for engaging with other stakeholders such as investors and local governments.  A CBTO can establish committees to deal with various issues that are pertinent to its operations.
3. Well defined property rights. The CBTO resource inventory should be documented and the members made aware of their ownership and power rights.
4. Local communities must get genuine benefits from community-based tourism activities in their localities. A sharing procedure must be defined and communicated to all stakeholders beforehand. Table 6.1 below shows how a CBTO can share benefits that accrue from hiking activities

Table 6.1: A simple benefit-sharing mechanism for a CBTO

A CBTO charges KES 1000 for a hiking experience to a local hill. The benefits are shared as follows:

• KES 300 provides local motorbike transport and water for the hiker (30%)
• KES 200 is a guiding fee for the guide (20%)
• KES 150 is given to the owner of the land where the hill is located (15%)
• KES 100 is sent to the tour operator or the referral who brought the client (10%)
• KES 250 is retained by the CBTO for administration (licenses and office space) and the rest is retained as profit that will be shared as a dividend at the end of the year.

5. If communities are denied fair and transparent benefit-sharing procedures, it is likely that conflicts will arise in the CBT.
6. Assist the community in improving their access to basic services (such as water, sanitation, education and hygiene). This can be achieved by the group undertaking activities related to corporate social responsibility.
7. Establish schemes to assist the vulnerable members of the community (e.g. disabled, orphans, widows)
8. Encourage basic training of business operations to CBT staff and owners e.g. in aspects of cash flow, budget surplus/deficit, and retaining part of the profits to reinvest

1. Develop a social policy with the community members and proactively communicate and update periodically. A CBT social policy should:

• Respect local cultures by ensuring that the activities undertaken by the CBT should not undermine their culture or the cultures of neighboring communities
• Promote gender equality by practicing equity in the distribution of roles and resources to women, youth, and men.
• Uphold dignity and respect i.e., apart from local cultures, the CBT has to make efforts to respect and treat with dignity the cultures of its visitors.
• Support child protection whereby the CBTO ensures that the social policy protects children from negative aspects of sex tourism and child labor.

2. Promote Collaboration and networking. This is consistent with principle 2 for CBT. Collaboration and networking ensure that the CBTO understands stakeholders’ need for social well-being.
3. Implement efficient marketing strategies: A CBTO needs to be market-efficient to be able to sustain its social activities. Information on effective marketing methods can be obtained from the SUS-TOUR Marketing Guidelines[1] and the SUS-TOUR DIY toolkit on Marketing.[2]
4. Promote the conservation of natural resources. Conservation of community resources needs to be one of the main characteristics of sustainable tourism development. In this subject area, conservation refers to the preservation of the culture of a local community, the heritage in the area, the environment, and nature that represents the identity of the tourist place. Ventures that promote conservation promote the social well-being of the community. More on conservation is available in principle 8.
5. Develop a code of conduct for the CBTO members. The code of conduct refers to rules that guide the social norms and practices of groups and organizations. It assists in ensuring that members understand the dos and don’ts of an organization.
6. Develop a code of conduct for tourists. CBTOS needs to have a code of conduct as visitors may have cultures and beliefs that are dissimilar to them. Each CBTO should develop a code of conduct and communicate it to the tourists during the initial briefing.
7. Develop a code of conduct for the other business activities including food and beverage, guides, accommodation, etc. A code of conduct is an important tool in improving the quality of products and experiences offered by CBT.
8. Discourage the abuse of drugs among the community members
9. Disseminate information on the contemporary social issues in the area such as HIV and AIDs, tribalism, and corruption as they relate to the CBTO.

[1] Georgina, Guillen-Hanson, Leisinger Matthias, and Deng Yang. 2017. “SUS-TOUR Marketing Guideline.” http://www.sustourkenya.org/index.php/2016-07-01-15-04-15/downloads/send/3-downloads/8-marketing-guideline.

[2]  Yang, Deng. 2018. “SUS-TOUR CBT DIY Toolkit- Module 3: Communication and Marketing.”

It is difficult for CBT to make it alone in the journey of tourism. It is always a good idea to seek synergetic partnerships. The partnerships need to build up the CBT.

Most CBT initiatives get initial funding from an external source, such as donors, government, or development agencies. Over time, the resources diminish and the community needs to depend on tour operators for marketing.

The value of partnerships could be vindicated by the fact that it is the Sustainable Development Goal 17.

In theory, community-based tourism organizations (CBTO) must consult and involve the community in decision-making processes on tourism planning and management that affect their livelihood directly. However, in many cases, the genuine CBT community involvement has been minimal in most parts of Africa. This has been cited as a hindrance to the development of CBT in Africa as many problems associated with community-based tourism can be attributed to the lack of proper participation of the community.

Community involvement and participation in CBT is important because:

1. Local communities can take part in identifying resources that would be beneficial to tourism.
2. The success of tourism relies on the goodwill and cooperation of local people because they are part of the tourism product.
3. Wider participation ensures that the CBT program can benefit from the skills and experience of a broader range of community members.

To further enhance CBT definition, we have identified 4 main characteristics of community-based tourism organizations, initiatives, or enterprises: 

1. They are led and owned by the community. This means that local people play a leading role in the enterprise and the assets belong to the community. The resources can therefore not be sold off for private financial gains. This also means that their boards are accountable to the communities, mainly because the directors are representatives of the communities;
2. They are self-sustaining and able to generate profits to be reinvested and/or distributed among the community. Their financial stability arises from their business practice. Even if they receive support from a third party at the beginning, they can sustain themselves after a while;
3. They are sustainable which means that they equally tackle environmental and social problems in their area. They are also called social enterprises as they can generate many jobs in the community. They can also return benefits to the community beyond creating direct employment for individuals. For instance, they can offer scholarships or subsidized health care.
4. Have some cultural heritage. The main selling point of CBT is that it allows visitors to immerse themselves in unique cultural experiences of the hosts

Other characteristics of Community-Based Tourism Enterprises are that they:

1. Allow people to develop as economic decision-makers;
2. Can devise strategies to cope with competition and can be developed as part of the local development plan, including hybrid models such as collaboration between governments or NGOs with citizens;
3. Add value to agricultural produce;
4. Allocate surplus to community projects and other spin-off community enterprises; and,
5. Provide purposeful employment and cash income for marginalized individuals and actively engage citizens.