Social Entrepreneurship and Cultural Tourism in Developing Economies

Tourism has become a major activity in our society and an increasingly important sector in terms of economic and social development (Giaoutzi and Nijkamp 2006). Edgell (2006) supports this theory, suggesting that tourism ‘has the potential to participate in, change, and improve the social, cultural, economic, political, and ecological dimensions of our future lifestyles’. Virtually all nations practise tourism as a development strategy using it as a means of ‘earning foreign exchange, creating employment, promoting deprived regions and developing infrastructure’ (Singh 2003: 41). It has become apparent that the tourism industry can play an economically sustainable role in combating poverty, conserving the environment, community development and poverty alleviation. This chapter looks at the various ways in which the phenomenon of social entrepreneurship is being used in the context of cultural tourism and hospitality in developing countries to bring about improvements to the lives of members of local communities. Developing countries typically have comparative advantages in tourism. They not only possess land, sun, sea and adventure possibilities but also assets like wildlife, landscape and cultural experiences, which are all demanded by consumers from richer and often more densely populated countries.

https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203120958-35/social-entrepreneurship-cultural-tourism-developing-economies-philip-sloan-willy-legrand-claudia-simons-kaufmann