ABSTRACT
Tourism is an important sector in many countries. For the Seychelles, it is the lifeblood of the economy. This article critically examines the Seychelles tourism sector. Using mainly secondary data available in the published material, it finds that most hotels and resorts are owned by foreign transnational hotel chains with a propensity to import personnel, technologies, food and drink. The consequences have been stunted by the growth of local businesses and precarious employment. The article suggests the adoption of the concept of luxury Community-based Tourism (CBT) which could be used as a mechanism to localize the ownership of hotels and to address inequality and promote social justice. Luxury CBT would involve a novel community-based boutique tourism (CBBT) industry that takes into account the Seychelles’ islandness.
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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Andrea Giampiccoli
Dr Andrea Giampiccoli holds a PhD from the Department of Geography from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa). He has been a researcher in the tourism sector since 2010. He currently is a Research Fellow at Durban University of Technology (Department of Hospitality and Tourism) in Durban, South Africa. His main research interests are related to all aspects of community-based tourism. His other research interests include tourism development theories, sport events, food and hospitality. Dr Giampiccoli has published/co-published about 60 articles in academic journals and presented/authored at local and international conferences.
Oliver Mtapuri
Professor Oliver Mtapuri has a PhD in Development studies (University of KwaZulu Natal) and an MBA degree from the University of Zimbabwe. He is an Associate of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators. His areas of research interest include poverty, redistribution and inequality, innovation, community-based tourism, public employment programmes, research methodologies, climate change and project management.
John Nauright
Prof John Nauright is the Dean of The Stephen Poorman College of Business, Information Systems, and Human Services at Lock Haven University in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, USA. The College runs programs in: business management and marketing; finance and accounting; computer science; recreation and tourism including cultural heritage management; sport management; sport psychology; clinical mental health counselling, criminal justice and social work as well as offering an integrative studies program and minors in entrepreneurship, and environmental studies. His PhD is from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Previously he lived and worked in Australia, Canada, Aotearoa/New Zealand, South Africa, Barbados, Denmark, and Scotland. He is a visiting professor at leading universities in Barbados, Ghana and Russia. He is an international affiliate member of Sport Business School Finland and part of the Center for Responsible Tourism in Washington, DC.