A few decisive steps towards a career with purpose...

This spring 2020 marks my third semester in People-First Tourism Lab (P1tLab) as an undergraduate research assistant. P1tLab has a few undergraduate students like me pursuing individual research studies within the broader scope of the lab’s research on tourism microentrepreneurship. P1tLab has not only provided me with the space to explore a research topic I am passionate about, but is also the reason I will be traveling to Mexico for a week in March. I will be co-leading a group of 11 students on an Alternative Service Break trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to work alongside the communitarian enterprise “Ejido Playa Grande.” Alternative Service Break trips are designed as mutually beneficial partnerships with host communities. Our group of students, the visitors, will be challenging ourselves culturally, academically and professionally through direct service to the host community to enhance our appreciation for public service, civic engagement, and service-learning. Our hosts will earn much needed revenue, they will benefit from our labor to get some needed community tasks done, and they will receive insights from us about how best to cater to international visitors seeking genuine experiences with culturally-unique communities like them.

[Photo from 2018 Alternative Service Break trip to Costa Rica]

Dr. Bruno S. Ferreira, a member of P1tLab, recently completed his dissertation research in the Playa Grande community examining how these microentrepreneurs reacted to the challenges and opportunities brought by the local beach tourism industry.  As is the ethic of P1t scholarship, the lab now remains involved with this community, monitoring their progress, providing insights and training, and facilitating improved revenues. The trip I am co-leading will be the first offered as a result of the lab’s involvement in this region, and I am grateful to take a leadership position in helping it unfold. 

In my classes I have learned that underserved microentrepreneurs face a multitude of constraints in their journey to gain human agency and sustain dignified livelihoods.  P1tLab strives to understand and find strategies to help mitigate these challenges. A recurrent challenge faced by many microentrepreneurs is lack of visibility within the formal tourism industry in the hope of forming partnerships; as well as difficulty in reaching tourists directly. Puerto Vallarta has a wonderful climate, beautiful beaches, and an abundance of local flora and fauna which should generate opportunities around ecotourism adventures and cultural experiences for visitors. However, tourism spending often elapses the local host communities and is hoarded by large corporations and international economies. As a co-leader of this ASB trip, it is my intent to educate the students of discerning traveler behavior that empowers grassroot organizations and supports local businesses and communities.  We must learn to appreciate the cultures and lives of the people we visit, and must find ways to help them retain the bulk of the money we spend on vacation.

[ASB trips generally include hands-on service projects requested by our hosts; 
this one is from a past ASB program in Costa Rica.]

           

I am very honored to have the privilege of serving in a leadership position to the NC State Puerto Vallarta ASB trip.  This is an incredible experience to apply critical understanding of sustainable tourism and recreation programming I have developed in my major, to nurture my leadership skills in supporting a group of students in this adventurous international travel experience, and to provide direct benefits and advocacy for our host communities.

My leadership role on this program is being made possible with a scholarship by Mr. Tom Hines, a fellow PRTM alum and the son of Thomas I. Hines, founder of NC State’s PRTM program.  This is providing me with an opportunity to gain real life experience in leveraging my education to facilitate transformational travel experiences among discerning visitors (my fellow students in the program) and to improve the lives of our host communities. 
For all this this support, I am deeply thankful. 

[In Puerto Vallarta we are going to work with artisans like this, 
who struggle to earn a fair slice from the local tourism economy.]

By: Alyssa Stroker, P1tLab Undergraduate Research Assistant; Sustainable Tourism 2020; LinkedIn Profile