A responsible tourism perspective on tourist-host encounters in community-based tourism

The specifics around the attributes and complexities of successful encounters, the nature and equity of relationships and activities, and the impacts and trade-offs in the tourist-host interaction are often neglected. This chapter provides a framework for considering tourist-host interactions within a community-based tourism (CBT) context from a responsible tourism perspective. In particular, we demonstrate the value of a holistic approach for understanding the social dimensions of tourist-host interactions through an analysis of papers on CBT that have this as their dominant focus. The literature on tourist-host interactions reveals the potential of CBT to provide transformative tourist experiences, positive outcomes for host communities, and opportunities for mutually beneficial interactions. Conversely, it is also apparent that this interaction can lead to unfortunate outcomes if it is not responsibly planned and managed for mutual understanding and benefits.