The Relation Between Humans and Animals in Food Tourism Community Capacity Assessment in the Tourism Sector

Abstract: Community capacity for tourism development is community readiness or the capacity of local people to participate in tourism activities. It is a level of requisite abilities to attain the community objectives. Community development cannot be attained without knowing the abilities and capabilities of the local community. The capital assets available within a community have direct effects on a community. Hence, community capacity has a direct effect on tourism development. Tourism development may bring substantial benefit to local communities through the creation of various opportunities such as employment and financial benefits individually, and nature and cultural protection for the community in general.. However, the development of a local tourist industry often fails to deliver significant economic, social, cultural, and environmental benefits. This article attempts to develop the debate on measuring community capacity in tourism sector. The paper describes a framework for measuring community capacity building, based on seven capital assets, which have been generated through the analysis of the literature and research evidence from health, education and agriculture sectors. Moreover, this study utilises the Sustainable Livelihoods (SL) approach, which is people centred and highlights the importance of existing assets in local livelihood strategies (e.g., tourism) and related livelihood outcomes (i.e., income, well-being, environmental sustainability). This information can be used for programme planning, implementation, and evaluation in the process of tourism/community development. Key words: Community capacity, tourism development, capital assets, sustainable livelihood approac