AfricaBib 
bibliographic database
| Previous page | New search |
The free AfricaBib App for Android is available here
 Periodical article |
 Leiden University catalogue |
 WorldCat |
| Title: | Informal sector business tourism in the global south: evidence from Maseru, Lesotho |
| Authors: | Rogerson, Christian M. Letsie, Tokelo |
| Year: | 2013 |
| Periodical: | Urban Forum (ISSN 1874-6330) |
| Volume: | 24 |
| Issue: | 4 |
| Pages: | 485-502 |
| Language: | English |
| Geographic term: | Lesotho |
| Subjects: | tourism informal sector small enterprises hotel and catering industry poverty reduction |
| Abstract: | This article addresses informal sector domestic tourism and is anchored upon the typology of tourism by Gladstone (2005) in which distinctions are drawn between international and domestic tourism and formal and informal sector tourism. The specific focus is informal sector business tourism. The study reports findings from 52 interviews conducted with informal business tourists and accommodation providers in Maseru, Lesotho's capital city. It is revealed that the nature of low-income informal sector business tourism in the global South is radically different from that of conventional business tourism in terms of its organisation, characteristics of business tourists, and impacts. The group of informal business tourists of Maseru are essentially small entrepreneurs who focus on opportunities for making a livelihood and as a result do not participate in leisure activities whilst in the city. Arguably, informal sector business tourism is inherently pro-poor in terms of both the entrepreneurs themselves and their local impacts through spending on food and accommodation. The authors suggest that governments in the global South need to broaden their horizons from high end tourism and should consider strategies and interventions for appropriately managed forms of tourism that meet the requirements of domestic tourists. Bibliogr., note, sum. [Journal abstract, edited] |