Linking Urban Poor Participation with Comprehensive Tourism Governance. The Experience of Creative Kampong Programme in Bandung, Indonesia

In the growing discourse on tourism literature, poverty emerged as the primary debate as a consequence of tourism impact. Along with the increasing recognition towards decentralisation, participatory process in tourism development has been through a critical process, facing problematic formulation to ensure the intended outcomes of tourism development. This paper elaborates the concept of poverty, tourism, and participation in contributing analytical debate to help the poor from severe poverty condition, through tourism strategy. Drawing from the example of Creative Kampong Programme, in Bandung, the opportunity to link the poor in an urban setting by actively encourage their participation, to the tourism industry worth a long shot. It possesses opportunities, but more importantly, challenges the notion of integration of the poor in tourism development. The overall paper is structured in six chapters, consisting of two main part of analysis. Firstly, the analysis takes on the critical point of view concerning the participation process in the Creative Kampong Programme. The ambitious goal of tourism development for the poor is often accompanied with the enforcement of participation in the programme. However, this approach is problematic given several limitations, not only from internal motives, but also the external environment, which influence the ability to participate in the programme. Secondly, after the assessment of participatory approach, the paper carries on comprehensive tourism governance, as pursued by the Anti-Poverty Tourism (APT) framework, as a way to link the poor in tourism policies. The APT provides a good benchmark to follow, but the lessons from the case studies imply contradictory argument to the framework. The paradoxical situation led to the question of whether tourism is the appropriate strategy for poverty reduction.