Tourism has become an important industry in both poor and rich economies because of its important impacts

on economic, livelihoods and socio-cultural development. On the other hand, poverty reduction has become
an important item on the tourism agenda. The United National World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has
identified poverty reduction, along with climate change, as a global change to the tourism industry. Poverty
has been a world challenge for centuries and it continues to be up until today. It is estimated that the world
today has more than 6 billion populations, 2.8 billion live on less than US$2 a day and 1.2 billion live on
less than US$1 a day (Emaad, 2007: 54). Over the last two decades, the rate of poverty is high and the
number of displaced persons as well as unemployed youth and street children has been continuously
increasing (Henry et.al, 2006:65). Poverty is a social problem that demands an attention by everyone. It is
the challenge of everyone to be involved in measures intend at reducing poverty. According to Spenceley
(2008: 7), it is estimated that generally there are 1.2 billion people living in extreme poverty. Eighty percent
(80%) of the world’s poor people (living on under US$1 per day) live in 12 countries, and in 11 of those
countries, tourism is a significant sector or at least an expanding sector (i.e. over 2% of GDP or 5% of
exports). International tourism as a growth sector has the potential to offer vast economic benefits in
developing countries where a large population of the world’s poor reside (Spenceley, 2008).

International development organizations, such as the World Tourism Organization (WTO), have recognized
the opportunity and importance of tourism in alleviating poverty, international tourist arrivals in developing
countries are increasing and tourism is the leading sector this development and arrivals in developing In
fact, According to the draft 2020 strategic tourism development plan, by the year 2020, “Tourism will be
an important economic sector contributing approximately 90,000 indirect and direct jobs to the economy.
The structure of the industry and the international political economy minimize the potential economic
benefits to the most developing countries and the poor can benefit from tourism (Cattarinich, 2001:11). In
general, tourism has become a significant industry in both poor and rich economies because of its important
impacts on economic, livelihoods and socio-cultural development (Shah, 2000). Tourism to a creating
nation has dependably been considered as a wellspring of remote trade income, which are basic for financial
advancement. The role of tourism and travel industry in creating monetary advantages has for quite some
time been perceived in many developing countries (Jenkins, 1991; WTO, 1994). The tourism industry is a
feasible sector and a successful way that can, if completely developed, improve the decrease of destitution
in the world today. The travel and tourism industry has been contributing towards destitution decrease in
their own particular manner. This is done through recruiting and training local people, practicing sustainable
supply chain management (SSCM), through the local sourcing of products and services, building pro-poor
partnerships and linkages and providing training and support to small independent enterprises. This also
implies assisting to generate opportunities for local enterprise and ownership, helping to pay a fair or above-
average wage as well as set up profitable sharing schemes in destination areas (Mowforth & Munt, 2009).
Enhancing the positive impacts of Tourism can have and reduce the costs and place it to the poor (Roe and
Khanya, 2001:2)

Poverty currently remains a challenge in the Philippines, however it has an outstanding past and can have
an outstanding future too if steps are undertaken accordingly. One of the sectors where this country has a
potential is tourism which can play a vital role in alleviating poverty in both urban and rural areas. It is
expected that sustainable tourism has the potential of directly contributing to poverty reduction through,
among other things, provision of employment opportunities to local people as well as creation of markets
for locally made goods. According to world tourism organization achieving sustainable tourism requires a
continuous constant monitoring of impacts introducing the necessary preventive and corrective measures
as necessary. This study investigated sustainable tourism and its role in poverty alleviation and the study
also investigated the benefits and use of “Pro Poor tourism” (PPT) as a mechanism for economic
development in developing countries, especially in Philippines. For this study Barangay Busay in Cebu
City areas have been chosen as the focus of the study. A qualitative research method was employed because
the nature of the study was descriptive due to the fact that most of the respondents were illiterate or semi
illiterate. The sample of the study consisted of 50 respondents from the study areas. The methods of data
collection that used in this study were basically observation, interview and literature review.

This paper will suggest a program in sustainable tourism development through pro-poor tourism strategies.
The study had investigated the benefits and use of “Pro Poor tourism” (PPT) as a mechanism for economic
development in developing countries, especially in Philippines. Pro-Poor Tourism (PPT) is tourism that
results in increased net benefits for poor people. The Pro-Poor Tourism (PPT) concept was introduced by
the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID) in 1999 following research on
tourism and poverty alleviation. Many developing countries have adopted this approach as a way to use
tourism development to reduce poverty. The enhancement of economic opportunities for the poor in tourism
is an example of a pro-poor tourism strategy. A tourism enterprise or organization implementing this
strategy in its tourism business does so by providing employment to the poor. It enhances the linkages
between tourism businesses and poor people; so that tourism's contribution to poverty reduction is increased
and poor people are able to participate more effectively in product development.
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