Tibneen : a sustainable rural tourism strategy for local economic development

Abstract

Sustainable rural tourism has proved to be a successful tool in encouraging local economic development while preserving the heritage of place and the respecting the local community. This thesis adapts the main principles of sustainable rural tourism to the context of the Tibneen, a village in South Lebanon. by building on the key physical assets and social capital. Key local assets for sustainable rural development in Tibneen are identified and analyzed based on their scales, primary value, assets, challenges, and key stakeholders, these are: The Friday Souk, Citadel and historic core, recreation and entrepreneurship, and Al Mashrou’ al Akhdar. Furthermore, key finding is that the thick social networks are a key asset to the context. In Tibneen, the sustainable rural tourism vision builds on the key physical assets and social capital to articulate a planning document, which seeks to attract tourists such as weekenders, expatriates, and regional visitors to spend more time in the village. The planning document proposes an integrated social heritage network through urban design interventions, social capital building, policies and projects to support the vision, and a response institutional setup.