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Aiming to identify the best ones among the existing financing models for Sustainable Community Based Tourism (SCBT) projects, the Report also lays down how to assess the best financing model. It further provides recommendations for innovative financing models applicable under the current national legislation through surveying the existing international, national, regional and local resources for developing SCBT practices and small-scale tourism investments (grants, loans etc.).
The Report notes that the hardest-to-finance projects are those small- and medium-scale SCBT projects ranging from 100,000 USD to 4 million USD, a segment which the Report names the “Lost Middle”. It underlines that the prime factor in the success of an SCBT project in the “Lost Middle” segment is the existence of a private sector investor. The Report in this context recommends some type of cooperation between the community and private sector named the “Community-Private Sector Partnership”.
The Report informs that the Community-Private Sector Partnership model is the most suitable one that respects the community needs and decisions; and suggests that the introduction of the model will be useful both in early financing of a project and ensuring profitability and sustainability during the entire lifecycle. As a solution to widespread use of investments in sustainable community-based tourism, the Report proposes that the Community-Private Sector Partnership be organised as cooperative where the community cooperates with the private sector investors.