Community-based tourism (CBT) is a form of responsible business that supports local communities, improves livelihoods and allows you to get an inside perspective – it´s an authentic form of tourism and travel. The destination is highly managed by the local community members who run their small-scale businesses helping to protect nature and local culture, providing an alternative income and offering authentic travelling experiences for people who put value on where the money truly goes.
By visiting Hossa via Hossa Travel for example, you literally help support the lives of the local community members and this encourages the people to protect its natural resources rather than destroy them through unsustainable use. This is how the negative impacts of tourism are minimized while an incentive for conserving natural and cultural features is provided.
With general tourism, visits are often marketed and organized by privately owned and big international travel companies. The bulk of the profits leave the community, and only a few private individuals may benefit from the enterprise. In contrast, with CBT the profits directly benefit the local community and the management decisions are made by, or in consultation with the locals.
The main positive impacts include benefit sharing among the community members, community participation, community control, empowerment and conservation. By managing the interactions between the host and the visitors, the negative impacts of tourism to the community and environment can be minimized.
Visitors get the chance to know local Finnish people, enjoy their hospitality, join them in their everyday life and learn about their culture and environment. This authentic form of tourism allows you to dive beneath the surface and experience the real culture, the real nature and the real Finland.