More than Simply Corporate Social Responsibility : Implications of CSR for Tourism Development and Poverty Reduced in Less Developed Countries: A Political Economy Perspective

Freedom of poverty is a universal human prerogative and right. Hence the tackling of poverty in developing countries is a social obligation for governments, MNCs and MNOs at a national, intergovernmental and supra-national level especially with its institutionalisation within the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Tourism was a sector that was actively promoted by the above mentioned institutions in order to act as a catalyst for development and poverty reduction. Nevertheless in the course of times tourism did not deliver the expected result: poverty reduction. Hence this book embarks on exploring, by adopting a participatory approach to research, the extent to which the various 'controlling interests', external (development agencies) and internal (government institutions), dictate and influence tourism development in the ex-colonial geographical areas under investigation and their relationships with various community constituents - mainly those in the local communities at the grassroots level.