Possibilities of Pro-poor Tourism for Reducing Poverty Case Study Nepal and Sri Lanka

Poverty is defined and interpreted in different ways. Poverty in the sense of deprivation of basic needs has ramifications over every part of the world. Development theories deployed for Poverty alleviation in developing countries has been proved to be a failure in most instances. In the case of Sri Lanka and Nepal the worsening condition of socio economic indicators and the widening gap between rich and poor are appealing for an alternative development strategy. Sustainable development model with a given priority for environmental conservation and poverty alleviation is recognized in this paper as an effective alternative development strategy. Tourism industry is recognized as a potential agent to direct development in sustainable avenue. It can be an important force for developing underprivileged rural areas. Two locations in Nepal and Sri Lanka were identified to analyze the applicability of the pro-poor tourism concept in micro-level. Poverty alleviating measures in those localities are discussed under the elements of eliminating income deprivation, capability deprivation and exclusion. The pro-poor project in Humla enumerates how this approach mitigate social differences for equity while, the case in kirala kele exemplifies how this approach provides a better option for transcending socio-political stalemates.