Two rich knowledge domains have been evolving along parallel pathways in tourism studies: sustainable tourism (ST) and community-based tourism (CBT). Within both lie diverse definitions, principles, criteria, critical success factors and benefits sought or outcomes desired, advocated by different stakeholders ranging from quasi-governmental and non-profit organizations to public-private sector and academic interests. This poses significant challenges to those interested in theory building, research and practice in the sustainable development and management of tourism. The paper builds on a previous article published in Sustainability by presenting an integrated framework based on a comprehensive, in-depth review and analysis of the tourism-related literature. The study reveals not just common ground and differences that might be anticipated, but also important sustainability dimensions that are lagging or require much greater attention, such as equity, justice, ethical and governance issues. A preliminary framework of â€œsustainable community-based tourismâ€ (SCBT) is forwarded that attempts to bridge the disparate literature on ST and CBT. Critical directions forward are offered to progress research and sustainability-oriented practices towards more effective development and management of tourism in the 21st century.

An Integrated Approach to â€œSustainable Community-Based Tourismâ€

Assessing energy supply security: Outage costs in private households

Distributed energy resources (DER) have been promoted as the least-cost approach to meeting steadily increasing energy demand. However, it is unclear whether DER deployment can maintain or improve the electric power supply reliability and quality currently available to consumers. This report addresses two key factors relating to this question: 1) characteristics of existing power supply reliability, and 2) costs resulting from supply interruptions characteristic of the existing power grid. Interruption cost data collected by the University of Saskatchewan was used in conjunction with data generated by the United States Department of Energy’s Annual Survey of Manufacturers, along with industry shares of gross domestic product (GDP) and gross output to derive interruption cost estimates for U.S. industries at the 2-digit Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) level. Interruption cost estimates are presented as a function of outage duration (e.g., 20 minutes, 1-hour, 3-hour), and are normalized in terms of dollars per peak kW.

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Electric Power Interruption Cost Estimates for Individual Industries, Sectors, and the U.S. Economy

Natural disasters are an important source of vulnerability in the Caribbean region. Despite being one of the more disaster-prone areas of the world, it has one of the lowest levels of insurance coverage. This paper examines the vulnerability of Belize's public finance to the occurrence of hurricanes and the potential impact of insurance instruments in reducing that vulnerability. The paper finds that catastrophic risk insurance significantly improves Belize's debt sustainability. In addition, the methodology employed makes it possible to estimate the appropriate level of insurance, which for the case of Belize is a maximum coverage of US $120 million per year.

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Debt Sustainability Under Catastrophic Risk: The Case for Government Budget Insurance

Natural disasters are an important source of vulnerability in the Caribbean region. Despite being one of the more disaster-prone areas of the world, it has the lowest levels of insurance coverage. This article examines the vulnerability of Belize's public finance to the occurrence of hurricanes and the potential impact of insurance instruments in reducing that vulnerability. The article finds that catastrophic risk insurance significantly improves Belize's debt sustainability. In addition, the methodology employed makes it possible to estimate the appropriate level of insurance, which for the case of Belize is a maximum coverage of US$120 million per year. International organizations can play a role in assisting countries to overcome distortions in insurance markets, as well as in helping to relax internal political resistance to the purchase of insurance policies. INTRODUCTION This article analyzes the vulnerability of Belize's public finances to the occurrence of large natural disasters and the possible use of insurance instruments to reduce that vulnerability. Natural disasters cause an abrupt increase in government spending, both for relief activities and to restore infrastructure and facilities that have been damaged or destroyed. Although international aid usually helps to defray those costs to some extent, the experience of Belize and other frequently affected developing countries is that disasters result in an increase in government debt and a higher risk that debt may reach an unsustainable level. With the development of insurance and reinsurance markets for natural disasters, and the initiatives sponsored by the World Bank and other institutions to facilitate access to those markets by Caribbean economies, countries like Belize now have an opportunity to reduce their public finance vulnerability to disasters. This article attempts to evaluate the reduction in debt vulnerability that can be achieved through disaster insurance and computes the optimal level of insurance from the point of view of debt sustainability. In two recent papers, Robert Barro (2006a, b) has shown that the occurrence of infrequent economic disasters has much larger welfare costs than continuous economic fluctuations of less amplitude. Barro estimated that for the typical advanced economy, the welfare cost associated with large economic disasters such as those experienced in the 20th century (wars, economic depressions, financial crises) amounted to about 20 percent of annual gross domestic product (GDP), whereas normal business cycle volatility only amounted to about 1.5 percent of GDP. For developing countries, which usually suffer from a larger propensity to disasters of all types, and of even larger magnitude than in advanced economies, these events have an even greater effect on the welfare of the average citizen. Of the more than 6,000 natural disasters recorded during 1970-2002, three-fourths of the events and 99 percent of the people affected were in developing countries (Rasmussen, 2004). At the macro level, Rasmussen (2004) finds that the 12 large natural disasters in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) produced a median reduction in same-year GDP growth of 2.2 percentage points and a median increase in the current account deficit equal to 10.8 percent of GDP. In addition to their direct costs, large catastrophic risks pose a major challenge for public finances, and for debt sustainability in particular. And reaching a position of unsustainable public debt usually results in further financial and economic distress for the country. In the case of case of Belize, a Central American country of 300,000 people and a GDP of approximately US$1 billion, natural disasters are the source of relatively frequent events of catastrophic proportions. For example, the last two hurricanes that hit Belize, Keith in 2000 and Iris in 2001, caused some of the worst damage ever in the country. According to available estimates, the costs amounted to 33 percent of GDP (US$280 million) and 30 percent of GDP (US$250 million), respectively. …

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Debt Sustainability under Catastrophic Risk: The Case for Government Budget Insurance

Tax analysis and forecasting of revenues are of critical importance to governments in ensuring stability in tax and expenditure policies. To augment timely and effective analysis of the revenue aspects of the fiscal policy, governments have increasingly turned toward in-house tax policy units rather than relying on tax experts from outside their countries. These tax policy units have been increasingly called upon to analyze the impact of tax policies on the economy and to estimate the revenue implications of tax measures, with the ultimate objective of ensuring a healthy fiscal situation within the economy. Tax policy units also help ensure that tax systems are efficient, fair, and simple to understand and comply with. Such systems help to create an economic environment that is conducive to greater social justice. This manual provides a basic set of guidelines in both theory and practice to carry out this analysis.

Tax Analysis and Revenue Forecasting

Towards a Sustainable and Efficient State: The Development Agenda of Belize represents a tangible expression of the Inter-American Development Bank's commitment to generating knowledge as part of its assistance to its borrowing member countries and illustrates the Bank's willingness to accompany Belize in its efforts to overcome its development challenges. This intellectual contribution to some of the most important issues regarding Belize's economic and social development is directed primarily at two audiences. First, it is directed at Belizean policymakers, offering a technical and internationally comparative perspective. Second, it is aimed at the wider public who are interested in Belize's economic and social development but who find little material available on the subject.

Towards a Sustainable and Efficient State: The Development Agenda of Belize

In the early 1980s, Mexico went through a period of economic recession characterized by high rates of inflation and a large external debt. Mexico responded by implementing macroeconomic reforms which were aimed at opening up the economy to foreign competition, limiting the role of the state in the productive sectors, fostering the development of non traditional exports and rescheduling the foreign debt.

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Case 7. Evaluation of an Expansion of the Electricity Transmission System in Mexico

The Jamuna Bridge project is a case that illustrates an integrated approach to project appraisal. An integrated approach allows analysts to examine financial, economic, distributive, and risk analysis in conjunction with each other such that no single aspect is left to be examined in isolation. The economic analysis, which looks at the project’s impact on Bangladesh’s overall economy, presents a method of computing the real economic benefits of the bridge, including savings in vehicle operating costs, and the value of time savings gained by passenger and freight traffic. The financial analysis of such an infrastructure project checks on the sustainability of the service agency (the Bridge Authority) over time. Sensitivity and risk analyses are central to the evaluation of this project because they identify the most critical variables and allow a probability distribution of values to be used in the model, rather than a single deterministic value. The distributive analysis identifies who would gain or lose if the bridge project was undertaken, which, in turn, indicates who would be likely supporters or opponents of the project. Le projet du pont Jamuna est un cas qui illustre la maniere d’envisager dans son integralite l’evaluation d’un projet. Cette methode integree permet d’analyser les risques ainsi que les aspects financiers, economiques et distributifs dans leurs imbrications mutuelles de facon qu’aucun element ne sera examine separement. L’analyse economique, qui porte sur les consequences du projet pour l’economie du Bangladesh, constitue une methode de calculer les avantages economiques reels du pont, y compris les economies faites sur les couts de fonctionnement des vehicules et la valeur du temps gagne dans la circulation des personnes et des marchandises. L’analyse financiere d’un tel projet d’infrastructure verifie la possibilite qu’aura

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Linking east and west bangladesh: the jamuna bridge project

This study undertakes a broad-based evaluation of public expenditures in Belize in order to identify ways of enhancing economic and social gains from public services. It reviews the budgeting and financial management systems used to translate public finances into public services, with a focus on social services that meet the needs and demands of the people of Belize. The study will show that although budget system and budget performance issues themselves yield a large menu of potential budget reforms, recent adverse macroeconomic developments in Belize arising out of persistent government deficits and debt build up currently dominate the government?s financial and budgeting options and affect the choices that can be made in reforming the budget system. Some immediate problems facing the Belize economy are outlined.

Gangadhar P. Shukla

Papers

Tax Analysis and Revenue Forecasting

Towards a Sustainable and Efficient State: The Development Agenda of Belize

Case 7. Evaluation of an Expansion of the Electricity Transmission System in Mexico

Linking east and west bangladesh: the jamuna bridge project

Belize: A Review of Public Expenditures.