Contribution of community tourism in the neighborhood of Esteu in the Ilha de Moçambique

Abstract

One of the challenges that the Provincial Government of Culture and Tourism is currently facing is on how to encourage the practice of community tourism (CT), which is historical and cultural heritage assetinstead of only the practice of the beach tourism that is the most common. Thus, the Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism, sees community-based tourism as a premise to boost tourism in the Esteu community in the Ilha de Moçambique. Tourism is seen as a true vector for galvanizing the local economy, respecting the conservation of cultural heritage and historical values. As the analysis focused on which contributions CT has made to the local community, qualitative method has been used as it allows knowing the group from their perceptions and understanding how they conceive and practicetheir life experiences and the meanings of human actions and social life through the interpretation of the reality. Semi-structured interview techniques have been also used as these techniques favor interaction between the interviewer and the interviewee through a script of questions. The observation technique, being a social investigation has been applied because it allows the researcher to have a direct contact in the observation of the behavior and attitude of the residents involved in the CT activity. In addition, documentation analysis has been also carried out on various strategic plans for the development of tourism, as they can bring to the surface what the participants cannot say. To support the study, eleven (11) participants were selected; the choice was based on the intention and coexistence and they were considered the fundamental informants of the study. It is noticed that there is a huge satisfaction of Esteu community residents. Their involvement in community tourism has improved the life quality of their community and the way of living in the society, in an organized way through economic and social benefits such as employment generation and the strengthening of cultural identity.