Cultural tourism programmes (CTPs) provide opportunities for rural communities to supplement their income. While these programmes are intended to empower local people and reduce poverty, the mechanisms used for choosing the targeted ‘communities’ remain largely unexamined. This paper analyses the planning, structure and implementation of CTPs as a form of community based tourism in selected areas in Tanzania. Data were collected from two CTP groups (10 people in total) and five government officials at the national level using in-depth interviews. Analysis was carried out using NVIVO for theme generation. Major themes derived include lack of clear description of who constitutes CTPs and that existing CTPs differ greatly in terms of structure, size, development level and resource capacity, and many lack clear benefit-sharing mechanisms. There is a need for the government to continue supporting these initiatives at all levels, to nurture newly created CTPs and to provide continual technical support for the existing ones.