Reassessing Pro-Poor Tourism Through the Experiences of Marginalised Communities: Evidence from Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh

Nurul Islam Bhuiyan; Bikram Maharjan

doi:10.36948/ijfmr.2026.v08i02.72605

Reassessing Pro-Poor Tourism Through the Experiences of Marginalised Communities: Evidence from Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh

Author(s)	Dr. Nurul Islam Bhuiyan, Dr. Bikram Maharjan
Country	United Kingdom
Abstract	This study critically examines the relationship between tourism development and poverty reduction in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, through the lived experiences of marginalised coastal communities. Although pro-poor tourism (PPT) has been widely promoted as a strategy for addressing rural poverty in the Global South, this research argues that such approaches frequently fail to deliver meaningful benefits in contexts characterised by structural inequalities, governance limitations, and socio-environmental vulnerabilities. Adopting an interpretivist perspective and a qualitative single-case study design, the research explores the experiences of economically disadvantaged communities through focus groups and semi-structured interviews conducted across three phases. The first phase examined local understandings of poverty, revealing recurring themes of social exclusion, vulnerability, and marginalisation that extend beyond conventional income-based measurements. The second phase assessed perceived roles of tourism in poverty reduction, highlighting limited employment opportunities, weak linkages with local economies, and insufficient policy implementation. The third phase identified barriers restricting community participation in tourism, including lack of access to financial resources, training, infrastructure, and decision-making power. Thematic analysis indicates that despite visible growth in tourism infrastructure, poor communities remain systematically excluded from tourism planning and development processes. These findings challenge assumptions that tourism inherently promotes inclusive economic growth. Instead, the study suggests that in destinations such as Cox's Bazar, pro-poor tourism initiatives may inadvertently reproduce or intensify existing inequalities. The research contributes to critical tourism studies by demonstrating how tourism development can exacerbate social and economic dispossession when governance frameworks remain weak. It calls for fundamental reconsideration of tourism policy, emphasising participatory planning, community capacity-building, and grassroots empowerment as essential components for achieving sustainable and equitable poverty reduction.
Keywords	pro-poor tourism, poverty alleviation, tourism development, coastal communities, inclusive development, tourism governance, structural inequality, participatory planning, Bangladesh
Field	Sociology > Tourism / Transport
Published In	Volume 8, Issue 2, March-April 2026
Published On	2026-03-29
DOI	https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2026.v08i02.72605

View / Download PDF File

E-ISSN 2582-2160

doi

CrossRef DOI is assigned to each research paper published in our journal.

IJFMR DOI prefix is
10.36948/ijfmr

Downloads

Research Paper Format Copyright Permission Form and Undertaking Form Cover Page Vol 8 Isu 2 Cover Page Vol 8 Isu 1 Cover Page Vol 7 Isu 6

All research papers published on this website are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, and all rights belong to their respective authors/researchers.

CC-BY-SA

About IJFMR Fees & Payment Current Issue Publication Archive	Submit Research Paper Track Submission Status Publication Guidelines Publication Ethics Peer Review & Plagiarism	Join as a Reviewer Editors & Reviewers Reviewer Referral Program Get Reviewer Membership Certi.	Website/Journal Policies Usage Policy Content Policies Privacy Policy

Contact Us		+91-9687-828-838	editor@ijfmr.com

International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research

A Widely Indexed Open Access Peer Reviewed Multidisciplinary Bi-monthly Scholarly International Journal

Reassessing Pro-Poor Tourism Through the Experiences of Marginalised Communities: Evidence from Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh

Share this