--- title: Everyone’s Talking About Community-Based Tourism – Here’s Why We Love It description: Explore why community-based tourism is reshaping travel, creating meaningful connections while supporting local cultures, people, and environments. image: https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/hubfs/kyran-low-MvkLKGtBcUA-unsplash.jpg --- [Skip to content](https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/blog/everyones-talking-about-community-based-tourism-heres-why-we-love-it#main-content) [![Mosaico+Brand+Logo+Horizontal+Champagne](https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported%20sitepage%20images/Mosaico+Brand+Logo+Horizontal+Champagne.png?width=162&height=50&name=Mosaico+Brand+Logo+Horizontal+Champagne.png "Mosaico+Brand+Logo+Horizontal+Champagne")](https://www.mosaicocollective.com/) - [Who We Are](https://www.mosaicocollective.com/aboutus) - [Our Services](https://www.mosaicocollective.com/ourservices) - [Blog](https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/blog) - [Get in Touch](https://www.mosaicocollective.com/contact) ![](https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/hubfs/kyran-low-MvkLKGtBcUA-unsplash.jpg) ![Icon right breadcrumb](https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/hubfs/breadcrumb-arrow-back.svg) [Go Back](https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/blog) # Everyone’s Talking About Community-Based Tourism – Here’s Why We Love It ![Virtuoso](https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/hubfs/logo%20virtuoso%201.png) [Virtuoso December 16, 2025](https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/blog/author/virtuoso) - [The Art of Travel](https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/blog/tag/the-art-of-travel) - [The Living Lands](https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/blog/tag/the-living-lands) - 4 mins ### The approach benefits locals and travelers. Mazelike lanes spiral from [New Delhi](https://www.virtuoso.com/travel/destinations/asia/india/new-delhi)’s railway station toward the city’s main bazaar. Beneath the bare electrical lines and bougainvillea, a flow of pedestrians, cows, and motorbikes introduces travelers to the Indian capital’s famously frenetic pace. During tours led by the NGO Salaam Baalak Trust Delhi – a centerpiece of many [G Adventures](https://www.virtuoso.com/suppliers/15175278/g-adventures-inc) India trips – guides immerse travelers in the action while exploring the challenges of daily Indian life. Today some 60,000 children live on New Delhi’s streets. “It’s so difficult to survive on your own,” explains Kajal, who, like all of Salaam Baalak Trust’s guides, has experienced homelessness firsthand. At six years old, she moved into one of the trust’s homes. Today, at 22, she’s training to be a flight attendant – and shares her backstory while guiding visitors through her hometown. This work, Kajal says, provides career-boosting English practice and essential income. For many guides, it’s also a chance to spread the word about the nonprofit’s mission. “Someone helped us,” she says. “Now we feel very proud to help someone else.” Tours like Kajal’s reflect an approach to travel that’s gaining traction globally. Community-based tourism, or CBT, focuses on meaningful journeys that empower a destination’s community members on their own terms. “It’s local people who are working together to create this travel experience – something that doesn’t generally happen in mass tourism,” explains Samuel Lankford, a university professor and coauthor of the book Introduction to Community Tourism. He adds, “Community-based \[tourism\] allows everyone to benefit.” ![imagem 1-1](https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/hs-fs/hubfs/imagem%201-1.jpg?width=760&height=500&name=imagem%201-1.jpg) Women at work in Jaipur. Getty Images With that goal in mind, G Adventures creates nontraditional travel encounters that are good for not only the tour operator, but also local guides and international travelers. During tours that start in Delhi, for example, drivers from [Women with Wheels](https://www.azadfoundation.com/core-initiatives/women-with-wheels/) – a social enterprise that trains impoverished women – greet travelers at the airport. Upon arrival in Jaipur, tour groups learn [traditional block printing](https://www.virtuoso.com/travel/articles/the-women-keeping-jaipurs-block-printing-tradition-alive) from women artisans at the nonprofit job-skills cooperative [Anoothi](https://www.anoothiindia.com/anoothi/about-us). “We feel tourism can be a deeper and better experience,” G Adventures founder Bruce Poon Tip says. “We get you close to the community. Your holiday can not only transform your life – it can also transform other people's lives.” At its core, community-based tourism supports locally owned businesses. A stay at the 30-room [Calabash Hotel](https://www.virtuoso.com/travel/luxury-hotels/15401716/calabash-hotel) in [Grenada](https://www.virtuoso.com/travel/destinations/caribbean/grenada), say, might include meals at a nearby, family-owned farm that sustains imperiled local culinary traditions. At the 552-room [Ritz-Carlton Residences, Waikiki Beach](https://www.virtuoso.com/travel/luxury-hotels/15975715/the-ritz-carlton-residences-waikiki-beach), guests can join beach cleanup days with local guides who teach them about the traditional Hawaiian values of conservation and respect for the natural world.  ![imagem 2](https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/hs-fs/hubfs/imagem%202.jpg?width=760&height=500&name=imagem%202.jpg) Following the herd in Makgadikgadi Pans National Park.   The approach also keeps more jobs – and revenue – within the host region. The nine-room luxury safari outpost [Jack’s Camp](https://www.virtuoso.com/travel/luxury-hotels/16200460/jacks-camp), at the heart of Makgadikgadi Pans National Park, is part of the Botswana Community and Conservation Initiative, which aims to grow conservation-based tourism careers that offer secure paths out of poverty. And behind the 29-room modernist [Fogo Island Inn](https://www.virtuoso.com/travel/luxury-hotels/13979365/fogo-island-inn?search=%22Fogo%20Island%22&mode=Gts) is the social enterprise nonprofit, [Shorefast](https://shorefast.org/), which supports local artisans, fishers, and entrepreneurs in [Newfoundland](https://www.virtuoso.com/travel/destinationregions/north-america/canada/newfoundland-and-labrador).  Advocates for community-based tourism argue that when locals lead the way, from Asia to North America, the resulting gains have greater staying power. It’s what sets such projects apart from traditional charity. “It’s a really special thing to see amazing success stories from people who have worked with us,” Tip says. Guides at the Salaam Baalak Trust have gone on to study at U.S. universities, and some Women with Wheels drivers enrolled in the program while living in shelters, then graduated to living independently when they could operate their own taxis. Says Tip: “In a nutshell, community tourism is about* everyone.* Imagine: What if your holiday became your way of giving back?” ### Other posts [![](https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/hubfs/banner%202.jpg)](https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/blog/how-to-visit-remote-communities-responsibly) [Travel Compass](https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/blog/tag/travel-compass) [The Art of Travel](https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/blog/tag/the-art-of-travel) [The Living Lands](https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/blog/tag/the-living-lands) - Dec 16, 2025 3:36:52 PM ### [How to Visit Remote Communities Responsibly](https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/blog/how-to-visit-remote-communities-responsibly) [![](https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/hubfs/kyran-low-MvkLKGtBcUA-unsplash.jpg)](https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/blog/everyones-talking-about-community-based-tourism-heres-why-we-love-it) [The Art of Travel](https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/blog/tag/the-art-of-travel) [The Living Lands](https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/blog/tag/the-living-lands) - Dec 16, 2025 12:48:06 PM ### [Everyone’s Talking About Community-Based Tourism – Here’s Why We Love It](https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/blog/everyones-talking-about-community-based-tourism-heres-why-we-love-it) [![](https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/hubfs/banner.png)](https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/blog/where-next-the-ten-best-places-to-go-in-2026) [The Art of Travel](https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/blog/tag/the-art-of-travel) [The Living Lands](https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/blog/tag/the-living-lands) - Dec 15, 2025 5:22:19 PM ### [Where Next: The Ten Best Places to Go in 2026](https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/blog/where-next-the-ten-best-places-to-go-in-2026) [![](https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/hubfs/artigo%204.jpg)](https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/blog/behind-every-journey-the-people-who-shape-mosaico-experiences) [Travel Compass](https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/blog/tag/travel-compass) [The Art of Travel](https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/blog/tag/the-art-of-travel) [The Living Lands](https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/blog/tag/the-living-lands) - Dec 3, 2025 12:34:36 PM ### [Behind Every Journey: The People Who Shape Mosaico Experiences](https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/blog/behind-every-journey-the-people-who-shape-mosaico-experiences) [![Mosaico Brand Logo Horizontal Champagne](https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/hubfs/Mosaico%20Brand%20Logo%20Horizontal%20Champagne.svg "Mosaico Brand Logo Horizontal Champagne")](https://www.mosaicocollective.com/) [Terms & Conditions](https://www.mosaicocollective.com/terms-conditions) ``` Privacy Policy ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Virtuoso", "url" : "https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/blog/author/virtuoso" }, "dateModified" : "2025-12-22T16:18:27.143Z", "datePublished" : "2025-12-16T12:48:06.000Z", "headline" : "Everyone’s Talking About Community-Based Tourism – Here’s Why We Love It", "image" : [ "https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/hubfs/kyran-low-MvkLKGtBcUA-unsplash.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/blog/everyones-talking-about-community-based-tourism-heres-why-we-love-it", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://lp.mosaicocollective.com/hubfs/Mosaico%20Brand%20Logo%20Horizontal%20Dark%20Background@2x.png" } } } ```