Abstract
As disclosed by the review of recent literature, scholarship on urban tourism is massively dominated by research that is undertaken in cities of the Global North. Urban tourism is, however, a critical component in many destinations of the Global South. One vital dimension of the ‘other half of urban tourism’ in cities of the Global South, is business tourism. Building upon the mobilities approach to tourism from so-termed ‘emerging world regions’ the concept of informal business tourism is another contribution to move beyond Eurocentric viewpoints in tourism studies. In urban sub-Saharan Africa the need to transcend Eurocentric perspectives on tourism is highlighted by the dominant presence of ‘informality’. Manifested in four categories of business tourism – international formal business tourism, domestic formal business tourism, international informal business tourism and domestic informal business tourism, the need to unpack such an economy is crucial for a Global South destination. As such, this study interrogates the economy of business tourism that includes all the four categories in one African city, Harare- the capital city of Zimbabwe. The study utilised a mixed methods research design that incorporated a QUAL-quant technique. Data was collected through in-depth face-to-face semi-structured interviews with (n= 10) stakeholder representatives from all the hotels in Harare that have facilities to host Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) events, and (n=5) stakeholders representing the Harare city authorities. Data was also collected from domestic informal business tourists (n= 400) and informal cross-border traders (n= 300) visiting Harare by way of a structured open-ended self-administered questionnaire. Key findings of the study highlight that on the one hand Harare is slowly becoming one of the most competitive MICE destinations in Africa, and on the other hand, the city is assuming a growing role in the network of cities in Southern Africa (and beyond) which are connected through the activities of cross-border traders. Further, the city was found to be a representative city for formal business events that can be hosted in the country while the city’s informal sector fulfills the role of propelling informal domestic consumption in the country. The study contributes to the continued research agenda on business tourism, through profiling the dynamics of the four categories of business tourism manifesting in one African city. In addition, the study makes developmental and policy recommendations that are hoped to help in igniting business tourism into the mainstream economy of Global South Destinations.
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LIST OF ACRONYMS
Acronym/Abbreviations
Definition/Explanation
ATA
Africa Tourism Association
CEMAC
Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa
COMESA
Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa
DFID
United Kingdom Department for International Development
DMCs
Destination Management Companies
ESAP
Economic Structural Adjustment Programme
FAO
Food and Agriculture Organisation
ICBT
Informal Cross-Border trade
ICC
International Convention Centre
ILO
International Labor Organisation
IMF
International Monetary Fund
MICE
Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions
NAFTA
European Union and the North American Free Trade Agreement
NGO
Non-Governmental Organisation
OECD
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
PPT
Pro-Poor Tourism
SADC
Southern African Development Community
SDGs
Sustainable Development Goals
SSA
Sub-Saharan Africa
UN
United Nations
UNCTAD
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
UNDP
United Nations Development Programme
UNEP
United Nations Environmental Programme
UNIFEM
United Nations Development Fund for Women
UNWTO
World Tourism Organisation
USAID
United States Agency for International Development
WTO
World Trade Organisation
WTTC
World Travel and Tourism Council
ZIMPREST
Zimbabwe Programme for Economic and Social Transformation
ZTA
Zimbabwe Tourism Authority
ZWL
Zimbabwean Dollar