Building Community Awareness of Tourism in a Developing Country Destination

This paper discusses the nature of education for destination community members and examines how vocational, entrepreneurial, and general community awareness education are occurring in a developing country tourist destination. Evidence suggests that, in addition to the traditional approaches to educating local residents, namely professional and vocational training, entrepreneurial training is becoming more commonplace. Additionally, this paper considers another type of community education programme, which is increasing in some developing countries: building general public awareness of tourism. It is argued that, as entrepreneurial endeavours and public awareness increase, residents will be in a better position to participate in tourism development.