Papers by Michelle Whitford
Routledge eBooks, Jul 22, 2022
Paper contribution to the Moreton Bay (Quandamooka) & Catchment eBook available on www.moretonbay... more Paper contribution to the Moreton Bay (Quandamooka) & Catchment eBook available on www.moretonbayfoundation.org.
Set within the context of increasing global commitment to eradicate extreme poverty, this researc... more Set within the context of increasing global commitment to eradicate extreme poverty, this research critically analyses and evaluates the extent to which microfinance tourism (MFT) is an effective vehicle for poverty alleviation in developing countries. For decades, both microfinance and tourism have been promoted as key strategies for global poverty alleviation. Microfinance can offer people living in poverty, especially those considered 'unbankable', the necessary financial and educational support to engage in entrepreneurial activities, while tourism has the capacity to reduce poverty via economic development and global citizenship education. MFT emerged in 2008 as an innovative approach that pioneers the integration of microfinance and tourism for poverty alleviation purposes. Despite promising great hope for many by addressing multiple facets of the poverty issue, the extent to which MFT rhetoric translates into reality is unclear, given that the positive impacts of both...
In Australia, Indigenous culture has long been thought to have the potential to provide the count... more In Australia, Indigenous culture has long been thought to have the potential to provide the country's tourism industry with a key point of differentiation (Buultjens et al., 2005). Thus Indigenous experiences have consistently remained an integral part of Australia's tourism product offering since the early 2000s (Department of Communications Information Technology and the Arts, 2003) and are marketed as one of the seven key experiences that underpin the country's global tourism marketing activities (see Tourism Australia, 2017). Similar to other parts of the world, the tourism industry in Australia has also been portrayed as a sector that can create socio-economic opportunities for Indigenous peoples through the development of tourism- ocused businesses and the generation of employment, especially in the regional and remote areas of the country (Buultjens & Gale, 2013; Coria & Calfucura, 2012; Fletcher et al., 2016). As a consequence of these potential benefits, consecu...
Annals of Leisure Research, 2018
Journal of Heritage Tourism, 2019
Authentic intangible cultural heritage (ICH) provides a community with a unique selling point in ... more Authentic intangible cultural heritage (ICH) provides a community with a unique selling point in the globally competitive tourism industry. The process of commodification of ICH, however, has threatened its authenticity and thus sustainable tourism approaches are required to achieve successful transmission and promotion of ICH as a sustainable tourism resource. This paper explores the priorities of ICH practitioners in relation to the development of ICH as a sustainable tourism resource, by utilising South Korea as a case study. The results revealed that from the ICH practitioners' perspectives, authenticity is a holistic notion integrating the transmitted customs, inherited meanings and the practitioners' identities. ICH practitioners agree with the potential positive symbiotic relationship between transmission of authentic ICH and promotion of ICH as a tourism resource. To achieve the positive symbiotic relationship, locals' awareness of ICH, ICH practitioner empowerment and parallel development between tourism development and transmission of ICH are necessary. To date, the practitioner approach to the authenticity of ICH and ICH as a sustainable tourism resource is little explored in the literature, thus this paper makes a valuable addition to the area of sustainable heritage tourism.
Social Entrepreneurship and Tourism, 2016
Tourism is often employed as a vehicle for facilitating social-economic development, however its ... more Tourism is often employed as a vehicle for facilitating social-economic development, however its usefulness has been somewhat limited in relation to addressing social issues, and in particular, those issues relating to poverty. This is partly due to the lack of cross-sectoral interactions and knowledge exchange between private, public and third sectors that are needed to create effective and appropriate initiatives to leverage tourism for social benefits. Such traditional sectoral boundaries can be broken down through social entrepreneurship approaches which concomitantly, facilitate the creation and synergizing of social innovation that addresses persistent social issues. Yet to date, the utility of cross-sectoral knowledge dynamics still remains largely under-researched in both the social entrepreneurship and tourism literature. This chapter introduces readers to the concept of knowledge dynamics and discusses knowledge dynamics in the tourism and social entrepreneurship nexus via a case study of community-based tourism in Mai Hich, Vietnam. We argue that by gaining an enhanced understanding of cross-sectoral knowledge dynamics, we can strengthen the overall praxis of tourism and social entrepreneurship, and in particular, assist policymakers in fostering conditions that generate increased innovation.
Social Entrepreneurship and Tourism, 2016
Tourism is often employed as a vehicle for facilitating social-economic development, however its ... more Tourism is often employed as a vehicle for facilitating social-economic development, however its usefulness has been somewhat limited in relation to addressing social issues, and in particular, those issues relating to poverty. This is partly due to the lack of cross-sectoral interactions and knowledge exchange between private, public and third sectors that are needed to create effective and appropriate initiatives to leverage tourism for social benefits. Such traditional sectoral boundaries can be broken down through social entrepreneurship approaches which concomitantly, facilitate the creation and synergizing of social innovation that addresses persistent social issues. Yet to date, the utility of cross-sectoral knowledge dynamics still remains largely under-researched in both the social entrepreneurship and tourism literature. This chapter introduces readers to the concept of knowledge dynamics and discusses knowledge dynamics in the tourism and social entrepreneurship nexus via a case study of community-based tourism in Mai Hich, Vietnam. We argue that by gaining an enhanced understanding of cross-sectoral knowledge dynamics, we can strengthen the overall praxis of tourism and social entrepreneurship, and in particular, assist policymakers in fostering conditions that generate increased innovation.
Current Issues in Tourism, 2016
Increasing interest in poverty alleviation at the beginning of twenty-first century has facilitat... more Increasing interest in poverty alleviation at the beginning of twenty-first century has facilitated the rapid growth of various anti-poverty tourism interventions (ATIs) around the globe. The tourism-poverty alleviation link, however, is still not well established, partly due to a paucity of appropriate evaluation approaches that are capable of simultaneously providing researchers, practitioners and policy-makers with a deeper understanding of an ATI's mechanisms, the complexity surrounding its operational processes and evidence of its impacts. Additionally, ATI stakeholders' values and influences play a significant role in ATI evaluation yet their perspectives are often overlooked. Theory of Change (ToC) has the potential to generate a holistic picture of an ATI, as this innovative approach has been developed to connect stakeholders' theories of context with the mechanisms and outcomes of an intervention. Utilizing a case study of microfinance tourism in Vietnam, this paper provides readers with insight into ToC and proposes a conceptual framework which guides the application of ToC to facilitate the effective evaluation of ATIs.
Current Issues in Tourism, 2016
Event Management, 2014
Governments are increasingly involved in public–private partnerships to attract, support, and/or ... more Governments are increasingly involved in public–private partnerships to attract, support, and/or stage events. This involvement often leads to governments becoming embroiled in highly politicized battles that focus on issues including community benefit, mitigation of impacts, transparency in decision making, and lack of consultation before, during, and after the event. To date, minimal attention has been paid to the public–private governance arrangements underpinning events. This article seeks to address this gap by presenting a set of indicators that can be operationalized to improve event governance. The article proposes an indicators framework for event governance designed to reflect the event policy-making process. It contributes to the literature by facilitating greater understanding of the significance and influence of event governance indicators. Future application of the framework in research and practice will provide governments with a new management tool, which will enhanc...
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Papers by Michelle Whitford