Role of tourism in poverty alleviation and on sustainable development: A case study from island of Nosy-be, Madagascar

ABSTRACT Following the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals and the Global Agenda 2030 - Sustainable Development Goals the eradication of poverty had become a global preoccupation, in particularly the developing countries. Tourism, for a long times, have been considered as a mean to eradicate poverty, because it can develop in poor and marginal areas with few other export and diversification options. Remote areas, particularly, attract tourists because of their origin, cultural, wildlife and landscape value. Within this framework, the United Nations World Tourism Organizations (UNWTO) in its report published in 2006, theoretically identified the seven ways in which tourism can alleviate poverty. Madagascar is a country where the extreme poverty rate is very high (%76) and yet due to its very rich natural endownment, natural fauna and beach destinations there is great scope for the alleviation of poverty through tourism sector. This research study intends to examine the role of tourism and tourism employment on the alleviation of multidimentional poverty (as defined in UNDP Human development reports) in one of the tourism sites of Madagascar, the Nosy Be island. The study also aims to identifying which of the seven mechanisms suggested by the UNWTO are the most prevalent in the case study site. These objectives are addressed using quantitative and qualitative research approaches implemented in Nosy-Be, Madagascar. The quantitative research findings revealed that except for some of the living conditions variables, tourism employment had positive effects on the multidimentional poverty in the region. As for the qualitative research analysis, the results demonstrated that the mechanisms of employment, local supply of goods and services, and voluntaring were the most prevalent mechanisms in Nosy-Be, while the mechanisms such as direct sales, the establishment of small enterprises, taxes and infrastructure were less apparent. The main conclusion of this study is that tourism can be a potent tool in alleviating poverty in Nosy-Be or even in Madagascar, but some effort and measures need to be undertaken. KEYWORDS: Tourism, Poverty, Employment, Nosy-Be, Madagascar.