8 TOURISM SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS AND THEIR ROLE IN ACTIVATING THE SDGS – Contribut
8 TOURISM SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS AND THEIR ROLE IN ACTIVATING THE SDGS – Contributions by Karla Boluk
Fair Trade Tourism as an approach to support and build tourism resiliency and sustainability in South Africa
The contemporary context in which tourism operates is rife with challenges. One specific challenge which has occupied my curiosity over the last 10 years has been the social pillar of sustainability. The broad goals of my research program have been to examine how tourism may be a catalyst to enhance the well-being and quality of life of those involved in, or affected by the sector. My scholarship initially began by exploring alternative (to mass/mainstream) forms of tourism. My intention in my scholarly pursuits has always been to explore the potential of tourism as a social-cultural force as initially discussed by Higgins-Desbiolles (2006). My graduate research examined the emergence of a certification called Fair Trade Tourism in South Africa (FTTSA) and its felt impacts on communities supporting ethical consumption and production. FTTSA was an important certification (and pathway for my research trajectory as I will explain), as the intention was to create benefits (e.g., fair wages, fair working conditions, fair distribution of benefits etc.). Furthermore, the FTTSA certification clearly provided supports for communities who were adversely affected by the segregation laws during the apartheid (1948-1994) and fostered a sustainable and resilient tourism industry.
At the time, there was limited research on fair trade in tourism (see Kalisch 2013; 2010; 2001 as exceptions). As such my research started off as descriptive a.) situating FTTSA certification as different to mainstream tourism approaches (Boluk 2011a; Weeden & Boluk, 2014), the importance of the certification in the context of building a post-apartheid South Africa (Boluk, 2013a; 2013b; 2013c; 2013d), the role of tourism in lifting communities, specifically rural communities out of poverty (Boluk, 2011b; 2011d), the motivations of business owners adopting the certification (Boluk, 2011c), and consumers’ decision-making regarding choosing FTTSA among other tourism products (Boluk, 2011d). Notably, my research determined that South African Fair Trade business owners and managers were effective in the reduction of poverty within their rural communities (Boluk, 2011b). This finding responded to my research goal regarding examining ways tourism may enhance well-being. My time thinking and writing about FTTSA led me to draw attention to ethical consumption as the theoretical framework for a book I co-edited entitled Managing Ethical Consumption in Tourism published by Routledge (Weeden & Boluk, 2014). This book was an outcome of an invitation to organize a session at the American Association of Geographers (AAG) Conference in New York in 2012.
Recognizing the Important Role of Tourism Social Entrepreneurs in Mobilizing Social Outcomes, Progressing Sustainability Interests and Supportin