Abstract
In East Timor, the tumultuous events of 1999 and the preceding quarter of a century have left the island 'state' ill-prepared for its role as an independent nation. The leadership seeks not to be at the forefront of a country tied to foreign aid, but rather to be providing direction for the development of sustainable industries that benefit all within the community. Sustainable tourism holds a prominent place in the NC's, CNRT's and FRETILIN's policy platforms for the reconstruction and development of East Timor. The policy position adopted is reconstruction for the future and not simply reinstatement of the past. With rich natural, cultural and historic tourism resources, but without tourism infrastructure, human capacity and capital for investment, East Timor faces a dilemma in deciding how to initiate tourism that will meet objectives of sustainability and the delivery of community benefits. The paper acts as a status report on East Timor from a tourism perspective and outlines the tourism policy development process applied by the authors and the East Timorese response. It documents work on the development of tourism policy and strategic planning for East Timor from January 1999 to January 2001. The opportunity to develop regional tourism products that are 'green', community developed and operated and based on natural, cultural and historic resources is at the heart of policies. Tourism is seen as a focus for other development programs with the result being an emphasis on sustainable livelihoods for communities. Necessary, capital-intensive centralised services at ports and major regional centres require joint ventures between government, communities and investors. Though still in their formative stages, policies have been developed to achieve this reality. While the East Timorese 'provisional government' and communities are enthusiastic about a tourism future, there remains the complex issue of attracting investors and tourists to a destination that suffers from a war-torn image.