Rotary Club of Port Nicholson is proud to host Mr Yusuke Ishihara, the recipient of District Grant Scholarship from Rotary Club District 2580 (Japan) who will be studying for his PhD at Victoria University of Wellington. His thesis will be focused on community based tourism (CBT), international development and participatory approach to tourism development. Mr Yusuke Ishihara with Bev Wells (President of RCPN) and Mike Selvadurai (Secretary) and Linda Wellington (Director of Communications)
When asked why he chose that topic for his thesis, his response was “responsible tourism also requires involvement of local community members in planning and decision-making processes, in order to achieve its goal, “create better places for people to live in and for people to visit. Tourism is traditionally viewed as a mere economic activity, but it has been proven that CBT can bring social and environmental benefits without economic incentives through some factors such as a sense of ownership, territorial identity and continuous dialogue among local people in the tourism implementation process”
Mr Ishihara has worked in eco and community based tourism in Tanzania and Ecuador which has helped him look at tourism and international development from different angles and the appetite to undertake further research for the PhD he will be undertaking at VUW.