Pro-Poor Tourism: Is There Actually Much Rhetoric? And, If So, Whose?

Regina Scheyvens, the author of the research probe deserves applause for critically raising the issues related to Pro-poor Tourism (PPT) with the academic community engaged in tourism research. To respond to this probe was a challenging task, not least because the research probe by Scheyvens should have deserved a very critical and detailed reply. Being restricted to just a couple of pages, this response will focus primarily on the role of the tourism- private sector in the quest for poverty reduction. First, however, it is important to clarify what the original PPT approach initiated by ODI and IIED in 1999 was all about – and to a large extent still is – and maybe to question whether the probe has raised any new issues.