The Peruvian government has supported community-based tourism (CBT) for the last ten years seeking to improve the well-being of marginalized rural communities sustainably. Yet, the notion of sustainability among these CBT providers has not been formally assessed, nor the impact of different managerial models in such a notion. Thus, we interviewed members of seven CBT initiatives operating in the Peruvian Andes to evaluate their level of understanding of sustainability and their awareness of the impacts their activities produce. Analysis yielded five themes and 17 sub-themes which altogether illustrate interviewees’ understanding of sustainability attained throughout their path of developing CBT. Findings revealed these CBT initiatives implement many sustainable practices, likely due to the training they receive from supporting agencies. Notably, they assert CBT should remain complement...

Experiential tourism can be a catalyst for enhancing the wellbeing of indigenous communities. Yet, experiential tourism is a conundrum as cultural adaption to increase tourists’ satisfaction can threaten authenticity. This study examined the dialectic between experiential tourism and traditional culture among seven Quechua communities in Peru offering experiential tourism, by addressing three questions: (1) What is the perceived the role of ancestral traditions in experiential tourism? (2) To what extent modernism permeates into their lifestyles?, and (3) How do they negotiate ancestral traditions and modernism? Data collected in 2015 revealed that locals involved in tourism considered a priority to keep their ancestral traditions alive by passing them on to new generations; those not involved in tourism are less compliant of cultural authenticity. As a result, study communities showed...

Tourism has the potential to empower women, particularly in rural areas. However, little is known about whether it can have the same effect in Andean communities, mainly because the traditional social and cultural structures of those communities have limited women's ability to empower themselves through traditional economic activities. Through interviews with residents participating in agritourism development in seven communities across the Cusco and Puno regions (Peru, South America), this study examined the role of agritourism development in the empowerment of women in those communities as well as the ways in which it has changed traditional gender roles. Study findings revealed that agritourism contributes to four areas of empowerment for women: psychological, social, political, and economic. However, the culture of the Andean communities still has considerable influence on gender dyn...