Tourism development has often been regarded as an effective strategy for poverty reduction and sustainable livelihoods. However, tourism often triggers transformations of traditional livelihoods and complete dependence on tourism-based income. Presenting the case of Komodo village on Komodo Island, Indonesia, this study provides an empirical evidence for such transformation. Based on qualitative methods, this article discusses the ways in which tourism development has led the local fishing community to give up their fishing to become fully dependent on selling souvenirs. Although currently, the souvenir business offers adequate return for local people, potential threats to this new livelihood, like a limited market, fierce competition, a short tourist season, and high dependence on cruise ship visits, are looming large. If tourism declines, local people will be left with no options to sustain their livelihood.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	livelihood transformation, tourism development, resilience, sustainable livelihoods, fishing community, Komodo Island, Indonesia
Research Division:	Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services
Research Group:	Tourism
Research Field:	Impacts of tourism
Objective Division:	Commercial Services and Tourism
Objective Group:	Tourism services
Objective Field:	Economic issues in tourism
UTAS Author:	Dahles, H (Professor Heidi Dahles)
ID Code:	146168
Year Published:	2018
Web of Science® Times Cited:	30
Deposited By:	Office of the School of Social Sciences
Deposited On:	2021-08-24
Last Modified:	2021-09-28
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