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Viewpoint: How pro-poor is business tourism in the global South?

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Abstract

The nexus of tourism and poverty, and controversies around 'pro-poor tourism', are at the forefront of tourism debates in the global South. Existing scholarship is dominated, however, by research on international leisure tourism. Business tourism is under-researched as compared to leisure tourism. Given the enormous scale and importance of business tourism in contemporary Africa, this oversight requires correction including in pro-poor tourism scholarship.

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... This article investigates the state of MICE tourism in one African city drawing on results of a study conducted during the period of recovery from the most extreme impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the international context, research on business tourism in African cities is of particular interest because sub-Saharan Africa represents a distinctive region in the global tourism economy, where business tourism accounts for a higher proportion of total tourism receipts than in the case of other global regions (Rogerson, 2014(Rogerson, , 2015aRogerson & Rogerson, 2021c). A ranking of countries according to the share of business travel in their overall tourism portfolio revealed that 18 of the top 20 countries in the world are from sub-Saharan Africa (Daly, 2017). ...
... There is a growing body of literature on business tourism in sub-Saharan Africa, most of which concerns South Africa. The historical evolution and the contemporary significance of business tourism in South African cities has been highlighted in several studies (Rogerson, 2005;Donaldson, 2013;Rogerson, 2014;Rogerson & Rogerson, 2014;Rogerson, 2015b;Rogerson & Rogerson, 2017;Rogerson, 2019). ...
... There is a growing body of literature on business tourism in sub-Saharan Africa, most of which concerns South Africa. The historical evolution and the contemporary significance of business tourism in South African cities has been highlighted in several studies (Rogerson, 2005;Donaldson, 2013;Rogerson, 2014;Rogerson & Rogerson, 2014;Rogerson, 2015b;Rogerson & Rogerson, 2017;Rogerson, 2019). ...
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There are many studies on business tourism conducted by authors from the Global North. Research on business tourism in the Global South remains underdeveloped despite its significance for many leading urban tourism destinations. Arguably, the need for more research on business tourism is particularly evident in major cities of sub-Saharan Africa, where this sector is frequently more significant than leisure tourism. This article contributes to addressing the knowledge gap on business tourism in urban Africa, by focusing on tourism connected with meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) in Harare, Zimbabwe's capital city. The study is based on data collected during qualitative interviews with respondents from all hotels in Harare that have facilities to accommodate business events. The focus was on the competitiveness of the city's business tourism economy, the nature of business events in the city, and local impacts for the impoverished population.
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... The establishment of convention bureaus, which supports the competitive bidding for MICE events, stems from the acknowledgment of the socio-economic development impacts of business events, which has, in turn, created a competitive arena in which cities and countries attempt to capitalize on this tourism sector (Rogerson, 2015). Beyond attracting commercial and professional opportunities for the destination, the use of business tourism in urban development has been further accrued to the fact that business tourists are a highly lucrative market segment with some studies illustrating business tourists to have a higher spend than other types of tourists in the destination (Rogerson, 2014a;Marques and Pinho, 2021;Marais et al., 2017). Moreover, this sector of tourism has been described to have a highly controlled environmental impact, minimizes seasonality, and provide higher revenue for meetings venues and accommodations (Rogerson, 2015). ...
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... Non-work income includes community income from things like rentals. For example, in Jamaica, tourism has provided income-generating opportunities for people experiencing poverty by renting tourist rooms, villas, and apartments (Pillay and Rogerson, 2013;Rogerson, 2012Rogerson, , 2014a. However, the literature also highlights some challenges associated with the direct impacts of tourism on people experiencing poverty. ...
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Conference tourism as part of MICE tourism has attracted a growing international literature. It is argued existing scholarship is overwhelmingly ‘present-minded’ and that historical issues relating to the conference industry often are overlooked. Using historical documentary sources and industry press, this paper examines the evolution of conference tourism in South Africa from the early 1960s to the period of the country’s democratic transition in 1994. Under apartheid, conference tourism was primarily a domestic affair, lacked professionalism and quality infrastructure in terms of dedicated proposed built conference venues. By 1994 whilst the country’s conference industry did not have any global standard facilities, the planning for such convention centres was in process in the country’s three major cities.
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... Premium trends in tourism demand need to be sought out and catered to more effectively. Recent attention to the positive impact of business tourism on development is an example of such an approach (Rogerson, 2014). Such initiatives would take Aruba and Sint Maarten back on the track of 'resilience'. ...
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