Purpose: This study explores Community-Based Tourism (CBT) practices in two established community tourism destinations to identify the common elements that make CBT a resilient, people-centered, and sustainable tourism model.

Research Methodology: A qualitative comparative case study design was employed. Official case sites, scholarly literature, and narratives created by researchers were used to gather data. The analysis was informed by Giampiccoli’s Eight E’s Framework within NVivo software to evaluate CBT practices in both cases.

Results: CBT flourishes in environments where local communities own the culture, the benefits of tourism are reinvested back into the community, and there is a strong hold on environmental ethics. In both cases, CBT serves as a source of income, cultural preservation, knowledge transmission, social cohesion, and collective pride.

Conclusion: It is concluded that in case CBT is based on local values and implemented with the help of participatory governance, it provides sustainable way of achieving well-being of the community. CBT is a practical model that can be used to develop people-centered tourism.

Limitations: This study is based on two case studies, which may restrict the external validity of the results. Future studies should incorporate primary ethnographic or participatory methods to gain further insights.

Contributions: This research informs tourism policy, practice, and academic literature regarding the main conditions under which CBT can be sustainable and resilient. It offers transferable lessons to policymakers, tourism planners, and community leaders who wish to enhance inclusive and community-driven tourism development.