Pahima Pahima (1), Imaduddin Al Azzam (2)
The development of sustainable tourism faces several significant challenges, including ecological degradation, unequal distribution of economic benefits, and the limited integration of local communities in planning processes. Environmental conservation serves as a fundamental pillar in ensuring the ecological sustainability of tourism destinations, while Community-Based Tourism (CBT) emerges as an approach that emphasizes the active participation of local communities in tourism development. Nevertheless, the implementation of CBT in sustainable tourism planning continues to reveal conceptual and practical gaps, particularly in relation to limited community capacity, unequal access to resources, and weak coordination among stakeholders. This study aims to analyze the integration of CBT and environmental conservation in sustainable tourism planning using the Situation, Question, Literature, and Recommendation (SQLR) approach. Specifically, the study seeks to identify the contextual conditions and implementation issues of conservation-based CBT, formulate research questions that highlight existing conceptual and practical gaps, analyze the literature to examine integration models that have been developed, and provide recommendations for future theoretical and research directions. The findings indicate that the integration of CBT and environmental conservation tends to be successful when local communities are not merely beneficiaries of economic gains but also act as key decision-makers, resource managers, and environmental monitors. Based on the synthesis of these findings, this study proposes a community-led conservation tourism framework (CLCTF) as a conceptual model that positions local communities as the primary drivers of conservation and tourism development. This framework underscores the importance of integrating social, ecological, economic, and institutional dimensions in sustainable tourism planning.
Acharya, C. N. (2023). SUSTAINABLE TOURISM PERSPECTIVE OF WILDLIFE CONSERVATION AREAS: A CASE STUDY IN NEPAL. The Journal of Economic Concerns, 14(1–2), 61–82.
Balmford, A., Beresford, J., Green, J., Naidoo, R., Walpole, M., & Manica, A. (2009). A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE ON TRENDS IN NATURE-BASED TOURISM. PLoS ONE, 4(6), e5955.
Berkes, F. (2017). ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE FOR THE ANTHROPOCENE? SOCIAL–ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS, RESILIENCE, AND COLLABORATIVE LEARNING. Sustainability, 9(7), 1232.
Booth, A., Sutton, A., & Papaioannou, D. (2016). SYSTEMATIC APPROACHES TO A SUCCESSFUL LITERATURE REVIEW (2nd ed.). SAGE Publications.
Booth, W. C., Colomb, G. G., Williams, J. M., Bizup, J., & Fitzgerald, W. T. (2016). THE CRAFT OF RESEARCH (4th ed.). University of Chicago Press.
Bramwell, B., & Lane, B. (2011). CRITICAL RESEARCH ON THE GOVERNANCE OF TOURISM AND SUSTAINABILITY. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 19(4–5), 411–421.
Dangi, T. B., & Jamal, T. (2016). AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO “SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY-BASED TOURISM”. Sustainability, 8(5), 475.
Giampiccoli, A., & Mtapuri, O. (2015). BETWEEN THEORY AND PRACTICE: A CONCEPTUALIZATION OF COMMUNITY-BASED TOURISM AND COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION. Loyola Journal of Social Sciences, 19(1), 28–52.
Goodwin, H., & Santilli, R. (2009). COMMUNITY-BASED TOURISM: A SUCCESS? ICRT Occasional Paper No. 11.
Hafezi, F., Bijani, M., Gholamrezai, S., Savari, M., & Krause, S. P. (2023). TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY-BASED ECOTOURISM: A QUALITATIVE CONTENT ANALYSIS. Science of the Total Environment, 891, 164444.
Jameel, A., Hussain, A., Kanwel, S., & Guo, W. (2025). ADVANCING SUSTAINABLE RURAL TOURISM IN CHINA: THE ROLE OF SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT THROUGH A MODERATED MODEL. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 12, Article 45.
Pineda, F., Padilla, J., Torres, J. C. G., Rubio, A. E., Botero, C. M., & Suarez, A. (2023). COMMUNITY PREFERENCES FOR PARTICIPATING IN ECOTOURISM: A CASE STUDY IN A COASTAL LAGOON IN COLOMBIA. Environmental Challenges, 11, 100713.
Samal, R., & Dash, M. (2023). ECOTOURISM, BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION AND LIVELIHOODS: UNDERSTANDING THE CONVERGENCE AND DIVERGENCE. International Journal of Geoheritage and Parks, 11, 1–20.
Scheyvens, R., & Momsen, J. H. (2008). TOURISM AND POVERTY REDUCTION: ISSUES FOR SMALL ISLAND STATES. Tourism Geographies, 10(1), 22–41.
Scheyvens, R., & Van der Watt, H. (2021). TOURISM, EMPOWERMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR ANALYSIS. Sustainability, 13(5), 2734.
Sebele, L. S. (2010). COMMUNITY-BASED TOURISM VENTURES, BENEFITS AND CHALLENGES: KHAMA RHINO SANCTUARY TRUST, CENTRAL DISTRICT, BOTSWANA. Tourism Management, 31(1), 136–146.
Sharpley, R. (2020). TOURISM, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND THE THEORETICAL DIVIDE: 20 YEARS ON. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 28(11), 1932–1946.
Sianipar, I. M. J., Lee, C. H., Kim, D. C., & Suryawan, I. W. K. (2025). ADAPTIVE STRATEGIES AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE CONSERVATION AND TOURISM IN KOMODO NATIONAL PARK, INDONESIA. International Journal of Geoheritage and Parks, 13, 335–349.
Stone, M. T., & Nyaupane, G. P. (2015). PROTECTED AREAS, TOURISM AND COMMUNITY LIVELIHOODS LINKAGES: A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS APPROACH. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 23(4), 673–692.
Stone, M. T., & Stone, L. S. (2020). CHALLENGES OF COMMUNITY-BASED TOURISM IN BOTSWANA: A REVIEW OF LITERATURE. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa, 75(2), 141–154.
Su, D., Wall, G., & Eagles, P. F. J. (2007). EMERGING GOVERNANCE APPROACHES FOR TOURISM IN PROTECTED AREAS OF CHINA. Environmental Management, 39(6), 749–759.
Snyman, S., & Bricker, K. S. (2019). LIVING ON THE EDGE: BENEFIT-SHARING FROM PROTECTED AREA TOURISM. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 27(6), 705–719.
Tolkach, D., & King, B. E. M. (2015). STRENGTHENING COMMUNITY-BASED TOURISM IN A NEW RESOURCE-BASED ISLAND NATION: WHY AND HOW? Tourism Management, 48, 386–398., e02052.