People-First Tourism Lab Blog

In Europe rural tourism is dominated by small enterprises, most of them in the form of independent family-owned businesses and there is a multi-actor complexity of the destination that needs to be taken into account.  Global brands, multinational retailers, and tour operators have been exerting a growing pressure on small and medium enterprises, which are facing difficulties in forming a unique destination image and are struggling to sell their products widely. In this context, new forms of interaction between different tourism stakeholders have emerged recently.  These include actors from the public and private sector, as well as local populations and entrepreneurs - all with common interest in the development and development of tourism destination networks. Joining forces with multiple partners permits the integration of resources and creation of more comprehensive offerings thereby improving the effectiveness of marketing strategies.  Such a collaborative approach to...

"Much of the criticism of economic globalization has centered on factory labor abuses.  But the majority of the world's poor are not employed in factories; they are self employed - as peasant farmers, rural peddlers, urban hawkers, and small producers, usually involved in agriculture and small trade in the worlds vast 'informal' economy. Social entrepreneurs seeking to alleviate poverty among this target group usually begin by asking: How can we help these small producers benefit more from their trade and productive activities?" (p. 156) Bornstein, D. (2007). How to change the World. Oxford. So... how can we help small tourism entrepreneurs benefit more from their work?  Are there frugal ways to help micro-entrepreneurs network with each other to share know-how and engender a collective consciousness and bargaining power?  Can information technologies be used to provide micro-entrepreneurs with direct access to markets?  Can clusters of micro-entrepreneurs com...

A manuscript describing the concept-testing of People-First Tourism in rural South Africa was selected by Jafar Jafari for inclusion on the book " TOURISM STRATEGIES: Development, Governance, Climate Change " to be published by UNWTO and the University of Algarve.  In this manuscript, we report findings from fieldwork in the Gauteng and Limpopo provinces - the study revealed that vulnerable residents in peri-urban and rural communities use cellphones widely socially and to support their livelihoods; many are involved in some form of entrepreneurial activity targeting other members in their community; the most critical challenges to their ability to raise from poverty and dependence through micro-entrepreneurship are access to micro-credit and access to markets outside their immediate ties/community.  We will announce when the book is published and available, but we can send a pdf copy of manuscript upon request.