Metrics, Impact, and the Future of Pro-Poor Tourism: Towards a Theory-Driven Evaluation Framework

Pro-poor tourism has long been promoted as a mechanism for poverty alleviation through the integration of marginalised communities into tourism value chains. However, despite extensive policy uptake and academic interest, significant gaps remain in how the impacts of pro-poor tourism are evaluated, particularly in relation to social outcomes, empowerment, and long-term community change. The current paper argues that dominant evaluation approaches, which privilege short-term economic indicators such as income generation and employment, are insufficient to determine whether pro-poor tourism genuinely benefits poorer communities or contributes to meaningful social transformation. Drawing on theories of social innovation, empowerment, social capital, and social impact measurement, the paper critiques existing evaluation practices and highlights their conceptual and methodological limitations. In response, it proposes a theory-driven, multidimensional framework for evaluating pro-poor tourism that moves beyond narrow economic metrics to incorporate wellbeing, agency, participation in decision-making, improved digital inclusion and community cohesion. By positioning pro-poor tourism as a form of social innovation, the paper reframes impact measurement as both an evaluative and empowering process, capable of capturing complex social change over time, supported where possible by integrative digital tools. The proposed framework offers scholars, policymakers, development agencies, and tourism practitioners a more holistic and ethically grounded approach to understanding pro-poor tourism’s outcomes, thereby strengthening its potential as a tool for equitable and sustainable tourism development.