Fonte: Journal of Tourism & Development; v. 4, n. 21/22 (2014); 119-131
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Resumo: The idea of using tourism as a tool for development has been established as a major priority by multilateral institutions, donors, governments, non-Governmental Organizations (NGO), national and international tourism bodies. Nevertheless, only few studies have analysed the factors that have had major impacts in such initiatives in developing countries. In order to overcome this gap, the main aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive reflection about the critical factors that determine the success of the tourism development strategies adopted by developing countries. To accomplish this aim a literature review was conducted. The theoretical discussion suggests that there is a set of factors that should be evaluated when tourism is used as a tool for development. Despite the context in which this process takes place, the main focus of a tourism development strategy should necessarily approach a capacity-building reinforcement of the communities it strives to help. It will be postulated that these factors are essential to guarantee that the targeted communities are in full control and are the main beneficiaries of the whole development process.
