Immigrant entrepreneur knowledge in the tourism industry of island destinations

Abstract

The economy of many islands is heavily based on tourism. In mature tourism islands, the tourism sector acts as a magnet for immigrant workforce that help resolve some human resource problems. Due to some blockades in the local job market and/or the opportunities they identify based on their knowledge, many immigrants set up new ventures in the tourism industry. Immigrants’ new ventures could increase destination supply in the sector, providing innovation and differentiation that avoid and delay the decline stage. In the island context, the creation of immigrant businesses is affected by a relative isolation and lack of easy connections with continental territories, which suggest the existence of interesting dynamics in the acquisition and use of knowledge. Immigrants’ life experiences and relationships in the home and host countries contribute to their knowledge construction to set up and manage their new businesses on islands. A survey on immigrant restaurant entrepreneurs in the tourism industry on the three Eastern Canary Islands was conducted. Results show the high relevance of knowledge obtained from experience, and the low importance of knowledge from institutions and written material; moreover, education in the home country is more relevant than education in the host country; in addition, networks and Internet also provide some entrepreneurial knowledge. The existence of two groups of immigrant entrepreneurs on islands with different knowledge characteristics is also shown.

摘要

许多岛屿的经济严重依赖于旅游业。在成熟的旅游岛屿, 旅游部门就像一块磁石, 吸引移民劳动力, 帮助解决一些人力资源问题。由于当地就业市场的一些封锁和/或他们根据自己的知识找到的机会, 许多移民在旅游业建立了新的企业。移民的新企业可以增加该行业的目的地供给, 提供创新和差异化, 避免和推迟岛屿旅游的衰退阶段。在岛屿方面, 移民企业的建立受到相对孤立和与大陆地区缺乏多方联系的影响, 这表明在获取和使用知识方面存在着令人感兴趣的动力机制。移民在母国和东道国的生活经历和关系有助于他们在岛上建立和管理新企业的知识建设。对加那利群岛东部三岛旅游业中的移民餐馆经营者进行了一项调查。结果表明, 经验知识较为重要, 制度知识和书面材料知识的重要性较低;此外, 母国的教育比东道国的教育更重要;此外, 网络和互联网也提供了一些创业知识。同时也显示出根据知识特征可以划分出两个不同的岛上外来企业家群体。

Keywords:

• Knowledge
• immigrant entrepreneur
• islands
• Eastern Canary Islands

关键词:

• 知识
• 移民企业家
• 岛屿
• 东加那利群岛

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Pedro Calero-Lemes

Pedro Calero-Lemes is a Lecturer in the Lanzarote University School of Tourism, attached to the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, in the area of economics and responsible for university internships and member of the Economic Group of Lanzarote Biosphere Reserve Observatory. His research interest is on knowledge, innovation, entrepreneurship and sustainable tourism development.

Desiderio Juan García-Almeida

Desiderio Juan García-Almeida is a Professor at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. His research interests focus on knowledge management and innovation, competitiveness, management skills, entrepreneurship, and tourism and hospitality management. He has published several books and articles in journals about these topics.