Community Based Tourism, tensions and contradictions in the process of commercialization related to regulatory norms

Abstract

This article aims to review the relation between the community based tourism regulations and the commercialization processes that involve self-managed ventures in three argentinian provinces: Tucumán (Diaguita-Calchaqui community Amaicha del Valle), Misiones (Mbya Guaraní communities Jasy Porá and Fortín Mbororé) and Río Negro (Mapuche community Lof Wiritray and the community from the area Ñirihuau Arriba). The article analyzes the benefits generated by the enforcement of the existing regulations in the commercialization processes of these projects, monitoring the problematics derivated in the cases where the measures are presented as insufficient. 

Methodologically this investigation presents a qualitative design. In-depth interviews with key actors from the sector (tour operators, organizations and turistic representatives from the communities) were made. Work was done researching national and international documents that address the subject. Web pages and touristic guides were consulted when there was a lack of specific data. The research intends to verify if the lack of pertinent information, scarcity of pertinent public policies and generalized unawareness about the functionality of design CBT, are some of the deciding causes that constrain the possibilities of growth for CBT in these provinces.