Refocusing Sustainable Tourism: Poverty Alleviation in Iconic World Heritage Destinations in Southeast Asia

Abstract

The exponential growth of tourism in World Heritage sites in Southeast Asia provides economic development, but with it unplanned consequences on the places where everyday life is radically transformed. This chapter looks at the UN Sustainable Development Goals, in particular the interactions of heritage, tourism and poverty. A study of Luang Prabang in Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) considers how small historic towns are transformed by the growth of tourism-led development. It looks at the effect on poverty in this remote rural town that has become an iconic tourism destination due to its World Heritage Listing.