Elements for Community-based Tourism and the Current Status of Their Practices in South Korea

The purpose of this study is exploring the concept and elements of community-based tourism (CBT) and figuring out the current status of their practices in South Korea. The elements of CBT, which are figured out by literature review, are applied to the two successful cases of CBT: Gamcheon Cultural Village (GCV) and Jathyanggi Pureun Maeul (JPM). Results of the study show that the precondition of CBT that is the common understanding and agreement of residents on tourism were not made in both two cases. In addition, even though residents’ organizations for tourism were established, all residents were not included in the organizations and were not informed about what happened in the organization. In the case of GCV, residents led the project so that they were empowered and able to manage the project without outside support, even though they experienced many problems and conflicts. On the contrary, in the case of JPM, an outside expert led the project and residents participated in it so that residents were able to continue the project independently, even though the project was practiced smoothly. The results of the study give insights for improving CBT in South Korea.