Although the continuous growth of tourism in many SSA countries has created an additional off-farm income activity, empirical evidence is lacking to substantiate the poverty alleviating impact of tour

The gap

Consensus across the literature

Supporting evidence — 3 representative gaps

• Metrics, Impact, and the Future of Pro-Poor Tourism: Towards a Theory-Driven Evaluation Framework (2026) · doi

  Evaluation in pro-poor tourism has often sought to identify whether the benefits of pro-poor tourism genuinely end up in the hands of the poor communities that are meant to be the beneficiaries [4]. The dominant paradigm in pro-poor tourism evaluation is centred on economic evaluation approaches, including examinations of income generation, employment, entrepreneurship, and onwards benefits into local supply chains [11, 12]. Included here are approaches such as cost-benefit analyses and a focus on poverty- reduction indicators, rather than wider social factors; whilst 2 are often locally focused [13]. The measures such measures top-down driven by global/national funders or external bodies, rather than being that are frequently cited in research into pro-poor tourism, do not always provide evidence of relative value such as inequality measures, and so can obscure how these economic impacts are distributed. Benefits to poor communities therefore remain unclear, with much of the economic influx instead going to local elites or those with entrenched power [9,14]. Hampton [14] suggests that there is a need to radically rethink how pro-poor tourism initiatives are delivered and the relationships between local communities and providers. The other evaluation issue that is faced is the paucity of longer-term, longitudinal studies that seek to understand change over time. Such types of evaluation are essential if processes such as power shifts, skills development and narrowing inequality are to be effectively measured [15]. Indeed, as Scheve’s [16] noted, if we are to truly understand whether pro-poor tourism empowers, then we need to understand wider political and social factors, as well as the economic. The role of empowerment in social innovation is well documented [17] and its place in pro-poor tourism initiatives has also recently been explored [5]. This is where effective, theoretically aligned evaluation approaches centred within social impact measurement best practice can be impactful, by supporting the use of impact metrics that capture real impact over time, in a way that empowers beneficiaries [10]. 2.1. Conceptualising a Social Impact

  Keywords: poor tourism evaluation social economic impact benefits communities approaches local measures understand often whether beneficiaries
• The poverty alleviation potential of tourism employment as an off-farm activity on the local livelihoods surrounding Kibale National Park, western Uganda (2016) · doi

  Although the continuous growth of tourism in many SSA countries has created an additional off-farm income activity, empirical evidence is lacking to substantiate the poverty alleviating impact of tourism employment as being consistent and universal at the household level.

  Keywords: tourism continuous growth countries created additional farm income activity empirical evidence lacking substantiate poverty alleviating
• Evaluating Residents’ Attitudes Toward Tourism Development and Regional Collaboration within the Monongahela National Forest Region (2024) · doi

  While the nine hypotheses are not consistently supported with mixed findings, it seems that residents from counties at higher levels of development stages are more likely to support tourism development because of its positive economic benefits to communities while disfavoring tourism development for its negative social impacts on communities; to value the importance and benefits of regional collaboration, and to score higher on their communities’ strengths in tourism development.

  Keywords: development tourism communities higher benefits nine hypotheses consistently supported mixed seems residents counties levels stages