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6. Conclusion
The structure of the Community Based Tourism in both communities was already known and has been discussed to a certain extent. However, no previous discussed or analysis was made on how the community members themselves perceive benefit distribution from tourism and the management system of the Tourism CPR. Past papers described the tourism involvement, its history and structure based on secondary reports, observations, and interviews. This research builds upon past papers yet gives a new insight on this interesting subject, from the point of view of the community members using a survey questionnaire.
In this sense, a strength of this thesis lies in the use of mix methods – observations, interviews, and questionnaires. The mixed-method approach involves qualitative and quantitative methods, this taking the strengths of the two methods while counterbalancing the weaknesses of each approach when applied separately.
The conceptual framework of this research assumed correlation between tourism participation level, satisfaction with tourism benefit distribution, and participation in tourism CPR management.
It also assumed that satisfaction with tourism benefit distribution has an impact on the satisfaction with the tourism CPR management.
However, the results from the statistical analysis of the questionnaires showed no correlation between tourism participation level, satisfaction with tourism benefit distribution, and participation in tourism CPR management in Cinsbu-Xinguang. In Smangus, a correlation between satisfaction with tourism benefit distribution and participation in tourism CPR management was found.
The statistical analysis did show that in Cinsbu-Xinguang case study, perceived benefit distribution has a strong positive impact on CPR satisfaction. The higher the satisfaction with the distribution of benefits from tourism is, the high the satisfaction with the Tourism CPR management. Also, participation in tourism has a slight negative impact on CPR satisfaction. The more a person participates in tourism, they will slightly less be satisfied with the Tourism CPR management. In Smangus case study, perceived benefit distribution, participation in tourism or CPR management participation has no significant effect in decreasing or increasing the satisfaction levels.
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From the results and analysis of the research, two key understandings emerge: (1) The conceptual framework model works when the community based tourism is consisted of multiple family or group-owned enterprises (Cinsbu-Xinguang), and not when the community based tourism is consisted of one community-owned and operated enterprise (Smangus). This is due to a more diverse range of options and opinions of the villagers, as there is a wider range of participation in tourism (e.g. farmers that do not participate in tourism; B&B owners, etc.).
(2) There are different “stages” of benefit distribution from CBT result in different relationship with the CBT management. When the benefit distribution is equal, this poses as a different stage, where benefit distribution does not impact the satisfaction of the Tourism CPR management. In both cases the distribution of benefit may be fair, but due to the nature of the kibbutz-like cooperative of Smangus, Tnunan, the benefit is distributed almost evenly between the participating community members. This is not to say that the benefit is not distributed fairly in Cinsbu-Xinguang, as the CBT enterprises there are group or family-owned and thus bring about a different structure of benefit distribution that can also be considered as fair in that context. Once the CPR management is done well and is sustainable, the distribution of benefit does not play a crucial role, but the participation in managing the CPR does. The participation is becoming more emphasized than the issue of benefit distribution.
In Cinsbu the benefit distribution is important in influencing the CPR satisfaction, and participation in tourism has a slight negative impact on CPR satisfaction (the more a person participates in tourism, they will be slightly less with the Tourism CPR management). This is because the more one is involved with a topic, the more they know, and the more they think of a better and more desirable situation. When a person is more involved in the community based tourism of Cinsbu-Xinguang, the more they understand the importance of the Tourism CPR, and the importance of its management for the success of the tourism industry and economic prosperity of the community.
The theoretical framework proved to be more useful in the case of Cinsbu-Xinguang due to the structure of the tourism enterprises that encompasses a wider range of positions in the structure compared to Smangus. This variation in positions is assumed to be giving the opportunity to put use to statistical analysis and see the influence perceived distribution of benefits has on satisfaction with the current CPR management system. The sense of collectivity may influence benefit
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distribution as well as the CPR management satisfaction. However, it was not fully observed in this research.
6.1. Limitation to the Study
However, there are a number of limitations to this study. First, it was difficult to collect enough questionnaires to reach statistically significant results. The adult population in Smangus is about 120, and in Cinsbu-Xinguang about 240. A number of residents did not want to answer the questionnaires, while others cannot read-write. A number of residents explained that one questionnaire per household is enough as everyone think the same in the same household. Others simply did not return the filled questionnaire. More filled questioners would surely be useful for the research. This also means that many of those that have answered the questionnaires tend to be more active and engaged in comparison to those that would not answer it. In short, in the settings of this research, the statistics are not as strong as in settings where the communities are bigger, and thus have bring stronger statistical significance.
Related to the questionnaires, the measurement of different variables can be criticized. What is the exact weight a specific question is given? Can another question be more accurate in achieving an accurate reply from the constituent? These criticism are relevant for most social science quantitative researched that include questionnaires related to a social phenomenon.
Another limitation arise from the complex gaga. Some rules are clear, but others are vague, just like the rules of giving gifts – a person would usually spend time thinking about which gift to give, how much to pay, recalling past gift transactions with the other person, etc. gaga is ever changing and includes the social sphere as well. This makes it more difficult to run a quantitative research on such issue as gaga or the way CPR is managed.
The difficulty to measure benefit distribution in an accurate way was addressed in this research.
To overcome this difficulty, the benefit distribution was measure by how the community perceive the benefit distribution. This allowed to investigate this topic, as perception of benefit distribution is what matters in regards to how each community member relate to this topic. If the distribution is equal but it is perceived as unfair distribution – this perception of unfairness is what will prevail
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and influence the community to be not-content with the current situation (which might lead to the failure of CBT enterprises as stated in the theoretical framework chapter.
6.2. Future Study
This study sets ground for further research on this topic of the dynamic CPR regimes in different tourism stages (based on the benefit distribution structure), as they manifest different priorities and interests for the local people.
The current research can be expanded and compare other similar communities. Such community would be Upper Baling Atayal village that is the gateway to Lalashan cypress forest trail, thus some variables would be similar. Another possible expansion of the study would be to compare the two communities with a community where the majority of the tourism business is through camping grounds that have become common in Jianshi Township.
It is also possible to use the same framework and apply it in other two similar communities of Taiwan’s Indigenous People – maybe Paiwan, Amis, or Bunun, to name a few. Of course, this framework is not limited to Taiwan’s Indigenous People, and can be applied with any other two similar communities.
In the CBT literature, it is rare to find discussions about community based ventures that are not managed, co-managed, or initiated by outsiders (Jones, 2005: 304). In this sense, it is recommended to find more examples of such communities that initiate and/or manage CBT, as in the current study.
Another possible study would be to focus on the role of the Church and compare two communities where there is a different church. If looking at the social influence of such a stakeholder, it is also possible to observe the influence of those community members that lived outside their communities and came back.
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6.3. Operational Recommendations
Besides contribution to the theoretical discussion on the ‘characteristics of Community Based Tourism’, ‘tourism resources as CPRs’, and ‘benefit distribution from tourism’, this study helps decision makers in the tourism sector to understand the importance of incorporating indigenous traditional knowledge and indigenous traditional customary law that has evolved over many years to allow sustainable use of CPRs. Incorporation of indigenous customary law should be emphasized when designing or implementing CBT frameworks. This would help to achieve better benefit distribution together with better CPR management. Many times, there are already unique and efficient CPR institutions, based on traditional practices, but are disregarded when applying international.
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