From fishing and factories to cultural tourism: The role of social entrepreneurs in the construction of a new institutional field

Abstract

Starting from the premise that cultural tourism is a new institutional field, this paper explores the construction of cultural tourism in regional Ireland. This paper proposes an institutional framework which consists of three main drivers of change: ‘government policy’, ‘resource-mobilization opportunities’ and ‘social entrepreneurship’. It is argued that the development of cultural tourism was made possible by the unique networks of relationships and associations that underpin music, festival and language fields. This study is situated in the literature on neo-institutional theory, and it draws on a model of change [Seo, M., and Creed-Douglas, W. 2002. Institutional contradictions, praxis and institutional change: A dialectical perspective. Academy of Management Review 27, no. 2: 222–47.] to explore how cultural tourism was shaped by powerful historical, political and cultural forces over time.

Keywords:

• cultural tourism
• neo-institutionalism
• strategic change

Acknowledgements

I thank the anonymous referees for their invaluable comments on previous drafts of this paper and Fáilte Ireland for helping me obtain relevant primary information. This paper was part of a larger study exploring the drivers and barriers to cultural tourism in the south-west of Ireland which was funded by Fáilte Ireland under its Research Fellowship scheme 2006/7.

Notes

1. Monetary incentives are targeted at residents in Gaeltacht areas to encourage usage of the language. The Irish government requires a degree of proficiency in Irish for those wishing to teach in primary schools. Irish is a compulsory subject at Leaving Cert level and the state relies on primary and secondary school education to promote the language amongst the non-Irish-speaking community. Irish was recognised as an official EU language in 2005 and is given recognition by the Constitution of Ireland as the national and first official language of Ireland. After the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, a cross-border body known as Foras na Gaeilge was established to promote the language in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

2. The history of the Dingle name campaign is available on the website http://www.dinglename.com/dingle.htm.

3. Riverdance, which epitomized the revival of Irish culture, was developed from a 5-minute dance routine commissioned for the interval of the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994, which proved to be the highlight of the contest. The show traced the story of Ireland and its people in music, dance and song, traditional and modernized, and incorporated Russian, Spanish and African American culture where these were encountered by Irish emigrants (Prentice and Anderson 2000).

4. Bean an Tí refers to a landlady who takes in students who wish to learn Irish in a family setting and she provides lodging, meals as well as education. Besides having a major economic impact in the Gaeltacht, the Bean an Tí is seen as a protector of the Irish language and culture.