Abstract
Sustainable tourism is envisaged to divide the profits optimally among stakeholders. In general, the governments are expected to play important roles in creating the policies, legal and institutional frameworks for tourism development and environmental conservation. However, developing countries are constrained by insufficiency in resources and weakness in governance. Furthermore, communities have difficulties in initiating tourism development due to relatively low educational level and limited socio-economic experiences. This paper examines the impact of tourism on the local economy and partnership to sustain tourism development. It is based on a case study of El Nido in the Philippines, where an eco-resort company has initiated ecotourism development through establishment of a NGO and partnership building with the government and local community.
