Abstract
Since the 1980s, external facilitators (aid agencies and non-governmental organizations) have played a critical role in bringing tourism and Indigenous people together with the aim of Indigenous development, primarily to address the poverty of Indigenous people. This chapter examines how, in some cases, NGOs can facilitate community-centric tourism development. However, the historical and contextual complexities associated with colonization of Indigenous people and their territories continues to pose challenges for tourism development. The chapter provides insights and understandings of the aspects and challenges, based on a case study from a contested destination - the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh. It explores the community's experience of tourism development through the three determinants - perceived opportunities to access economic advantages, empowerment from economic and political perspectives, and enhanced security as the safeguard against the vulnerability from various risks.