Conceptualising host learning in community-based ecotourism homestays

Abstract

This paper draws on practice-based theorising in workplace education to conceptualise the learning of hosts in homestay provision in community-based ecotourism (CBET). The paper first discusses the spatial and social dimensions of community homestays, reviews literature on homestay tourism, cultural commodification and colonialisation of local communities, and argues that agency is due homestay hosts in negotiating CBET on their own terms. Billet's model of workplace learning – describing curriculum practices, pedagogic practices and epistemological practices – is then used to conceptualise host learning in CBET, drawing on a comprehensive review of published research on homestays in CBET. The paper argues that host learning and education give hosts the capacity for local self-determination and control of ecotourism development and management. The conclusion offers directions for further research and practice.

Keywords:

• community-based ecotourism
• homestays
• host learning
• workplace learning

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada [grant number 435-2014-1112].