Local Alike: When community-based tourism becomes a business that shares revenue fairly
Champion cohort 2 (B.E. 2555), which transformed the traditional tour model—where communities received only around 10% of revenue—into tourism that returns most of its income to local communities
Translated from Thai · reviewed by the CF team
Previously, community-based tourism was still very new in Thailand. The tour industry was dominated by large operators, who often kept as much as 90% of the revenue from tourists for themselves, leaving only around 10% to reach people in the communities. With limited income opportunities locally, young people chose to move to cities in search of better-paid jobs, while local cultures gradually faded as the population structure changed.
Local Alike was established as a tour operator that takes responsibility for communities. It helps develop tourism activities and trains local people to become local guides, while also creating an online platform that connects tourists directly with communities. This enables most of the revenue to go back to families while helping preserve local cultures.
According to Local Alike, the increased income of local people can also go towards community development funds.
By B.E. 2560, Local Alike had expanded its partnerships to more than 70 communities across the country, contributed 5% of its net profit to community development funds, and helped set up waste management systems in the areas where it worked. A survey of 26 social enterprises in the project in B.E. 2560 found that those with positive net profits generated a combined profit of more than 2.3 million baht, with Local Alike alone accounting for nearly half of the total profit.