COMMUNITY - BASED TOURISM IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: A CASE STUDY

Community-based Tourism is gaining prestige all over the world as an alternative to mass tourism. This new type of tourism favours a contact with the local community and the experimentation of different sensations. In this paper we show a study carried out in El Salvador about the opinions that residents have in order to develop a tourist destination based on the hospitality of hosts, on the remarkable ecologic resources of the area, and in the important of the role of the residents. The methodology is based on an empirical study realized in a rural area from September to November 2008. Most outstanding result is the local community perception that tourist development can create jobs and generate wealth, although it is necessary previous technical training from private and public institutions to fulfil these objectives.