Diaspora based tourism marketing conceptual paper: A conceptual analysis of the potential of harnessing the diaspora to improve tourism traffic in Zimbabwe

Abstract

While the subject of harnessing the diaspora for economic benefits in general has been extensively covered, very little has been done to interrogate the potential of harnessing diaspora for tourism marketing through diaspora-based tourism marketing (DBTM). The potential of harnessing the diaspora as tourism marketers to improve tourism traffic factors to a tourism destination has remained untapped and unpacked by most developing countries. As a result, the significance of DBTM in galvanizing socioeconomic factors to a destination remains untapped in most developing countries, Zimbabwe being a case in particular. In the meantime, evidence from the emerging pockets of research in developed countries illuminate the centrality of DBTM in stimulating tourism travel to a destination among other benefits. Noteworthy is that the significance of DBTM in galvanizing socioeconomic factors to a destination may never be appreciated unless its potential and benefits are clearly understood and unpacked. This conceptual analysis paper explores the potential of harnessing the diaspora for tourism marketing. The conceptual analysis paper also maps out what has been achieved within the diaspora and tourism marketing industry. Specifically, using content analysis, the conceptual analysis paper explores DBTM potential and highlights the knowledge gap concerning DBTM.

Keywords:

• diaspora
• tourism marketing
• socioeconomic factors and diaspora based tourism marketing (DBTM)

PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT

The use of the diaspora as tourism marketers to improve tourism traffic factors has remained an understudied phenomenon. Strategies for harnessing the diaspora as tourism marketers to enhance the flow of socioeconomic factors to tourism destinations have not been fully explored. Zimbabwe also suffers the same fate where there is a paucity of mechanisms and lack of a framework on how to optimize the use of the diaspora to improve tourism traffic factors to tourism destinations. Practical contribution of the study will come from the diaspora-based tourism marketing framework which is going to be developed to improve tourism traffic factors to Zimbabwe.

1. Background

Most developing countries have yet to recognize the value of leveraging the diaspora as tourist marketers for socioeconomic benefits to a tourism destination. Tourism and travel make a significant contribution to the global economy (Webster & Ivanov, 2014; Boycheva, 2017; Hung, 2022). It is the world’s second largest contributor after manufacturing, with a total value of US$ 8.9 trillion and a share of 10.3% of global GDP (Hung, 2022; Travel and Tourism, 2019). Large rising economies, including developed economies, rely heavily on tourism. Tourist destinations in developing countries are always competing with other well-known and renowned locations throughout the world, and they are frequently pushed to adopt new tourism marketing strategies to stay competitive (Mensah, 2022). There is a significant shift in tourist marketing techniques that include diaspora engagement in various ways that contribute to the tourism economy (Eplerwood et al., 2019). As a result, the focus of this paper will be on leveraging the diaspora as home of origin tourism marketers to improve tourism traffic factors to the tourism destination country of origin.

There are disagreements on the definition of diaspora, making it difficult to come up with a single definition (Helmreich, 1992). The concept of diaspora is gaining traction, and with it comes a plethora of meanings, depending on who is explaining it and the setting in question (Otoo et al., 2021). Various notable diaspora theorists and practitioners have defined diaspora in various ways, but all of these definitions agree on the notion that for something to be labeled diaspora, there must be a spread from motherland to distant locations. The word “diaspora” is derived from two Greek words: “dia” which means “across” and “speirein” which means “spread” (Ragazzi, 2014). The term “diaspeirein” is used to describe a dispersion, spreading, or scattering of individuals away from their homeland (Constant and Zimmermann; 2016). As a result, a diaspora is defined as someone who has left their nation (Reis, 2004; Safran, 2009). Notably, and maybe most crucially, the diaspora can be leveraged for socioeconomic benefit, since they represent a tourist, a marketer, an ambassadorial sales representative, a network, and a remitter (Minto-Coy, 2019). With the emergence of diaspora studies as a field, scholars from different disciplines have offered diverse definitions of the concept of diaspora. Thus far, scholarly debates about what constitutes a diaspora continue to thrive (Freeman, 2022; Grossman, 2019). However, diaspora is also defined as a tourism marketer for the purposes of this conceptual study paper. The topic is still under-theorized, and the conceptual analysis study models the diaspora as a marketer, emphasizing the socioeconomic benefits that the diaspora provide to improving tourism traffic characteristics in the Country of Origin (CoO).

The African Union defines the African diaspora as persons of African descent residing outside of Africa, regardless of citizenship or nationality, who are willing to contribute to the continent’s development (African Diaspora Consortium (ADC), 2020; Crisford, 2022 and Freeman, 2022). The African Union’s founding act proclaims that it wants to engage and enhance full participation of the African diaspora, as a key portion of the continent, in the continent’s construction. This definition is founded on the idea of including the diaspora in the development of the continent’s tourism destination. As a result, the diaspora can be exploited as growth agents in their home countries’ tourism destinations (African Diaspora Consortium (ADC), 2020; Challagalla, 2018). The diaspora is defined under Zimbabwe’s National Diaspora Policy as Zimbabwean citizens living outside the country (Ministry of Macro-Economic Planning and Investment Promotion (MMEPIP), 2016 as cited in Mucheri & Dzvimbo, 2020). While this definition appears to identify the diaspora, it lacks the contextual constraints of the term citizens. This term will be presented in an ambiguous manner. In the Zimbabwean context, identification and location (outside of one’s nation of origin) are the foundations for one’s identity to qualify as a diaspora (Mucheri & Dzvimbo, 2020). Contributions of travel and tourism to GDP in 2020 for Zimbabwe was 6.7% (% of GDP) (World Travel and Tourism council (World Travel, 2021a). Though Zimbabwe’s contribution of travel and tourism to GDP (%GDP) fluctuated substantially in past years, it tended to decrease through 2001–2020 (Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, 2020). There is a need to find effective marketing strategies that will engage other partners like the diaspora so that the country can improve its presence in international markets and improve tourism (Crisford, 2022). There is an understanding that the diaspora has untapped potential and can be critical partners in economic revival through engaging the diaspora for tourism boost (Mucheri & Dzvimbo, 2020).

Nonetheless, utilizing the diaspora to improve tourism traffic factors has remained a relatively unknown phenomenon, particularly in Zimbabwe. The fact that there was no deliberate policy in place in Zimbabwe to engage the diaspora until 2016 demonstrated a lack of government commitment to diaspora engagement (Mucheri & Dzvimbo, 2020). Nonetheless, the newly revised foreign policy is widely praised for holding up and being centered on three main pillars: engagement and re-engagement, economic diplomacy, and diaspora diplomacy. Diaspora remittances of USD$635.43 million in 2019 and USD$619.25 million in 2018 (the second highest foreign currency earner after gold and tobacco exports), among other things, attest to their initiative to provide answers back home (Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), 2020). In recent years, the government has adopted the Diaspora policy, established a dedicated Diaspora Directorate, and established a National Diaspora Taskforce to supervise diaspora activities. As a result, Zimbabwean academics have failed to document the impact of using the diaspora to increase tourism traffic characteristics. As it is, Zimbabwe lacks systematic and aggressive tourism marketing methods that may maximize the utilization of the diaspora as tourism marketers in order to increase tourism traffic factors to the country, a gap that this conceptual research paper also intended to fill.

The Zimbabwean diaspora is found on every continent. With an estimated two million Zimbabwean citizens living in South Africa (Ministry of Information, Immigration and Tourism, 2019), it is projected that South Africa houses the majority of Zimbabwe’s diaspora group. The population of Zimbabweans in the United Kingdom is estimated to be 600,000, while the population of Zimbabweans in Australia has also increased, from 1,000 in 1991 to more than 40,000 in 2018. (OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), 2019). The Zimbabwean community in Canada is believed to number in the tens of thousands (OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), 2019). The number of Zimbabweans living in the United States is estimated to be around 45,000. In 2019, the number of Zimbabweans in Botswana is expected to range between 40,000 and 100,000 (OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), 2019).

These data show that there is still an untapped diaspora market that must be exploited in order to improve socioeconomic aspects and bring about a lasting socioeconomic revolution in Zimbabwe. The underlying potential of harnessing the diaspora for diaspora-based tourism marketing (DBTM) in general is revealed in this conceptual study paper. The study reveals what is currently known in the knowledge marketplace about DBTM or how the diaspora can be used for socioeconomic gain.

2. Statement of the problem

In Zimbabwe, diaspora-based tourist marketing, which uses the diaspora to assist the country of origin’s tourism industry, is both undocumented and veiled in mythology. This branch of DBTM appears to have received little attention in studies. Scholarly perspectives on the concept of a diaspora in connection to tourism are in agreement, with the goal of embracing the socioeconomic contributions obtained from harnessing the diaspora (Adamson, 2019; Challagalla, 2018; Hung, 2022; Mensah, 2022; Marschall, 2017; Otoo et al., 2021). Few scholars, however, identify and agree on the areas where diaspora and tourism marketing intersect and divide and how they both contribute to the development of DBTM (DBTM) (see, Minto-Coy, 2019; Otoo et al., 2021; Seraphin et al., 2021). However, little is understood about the nature of diaspora based tourist marketing (DBTM) when it comes to how to achieve it. As a result, in Zimbabwe, the potential of DBTM tactics remains untapped. This conceptual research paper intended to highlight the knowledge gap on harnessing the diaspora for DBTM that enhances socioeconomic advantages using qualitative content analysis methods. The conceptual paper specifically examines and emphasizes the worldwide significance of the tourism destination country of origin. The study article pushes the boundaries of knowledge in terms of comprehending the dynamics of DBTM, and the findings can be used by tourism policymakers to stimulate more research on this topic in Zimbabwe.

3. Methodology

Most developing countries have largely ignored the impact of leveraging the diaspora as tourist marketers to boost tourism traffic factors to a place (Apter, 2017; Eplerwood et al., 2019; Minto-Coy, 2019). Zimbabwe shares the same fate, with a scarcity of methods and a lack of a framework for maximizing the utilization of the diaspora to boost tourism traffic to tourist sites. This paper sought to highlight the impact of harnessing the diaspora as tourism marketers to improve tourism traffic factors to Zimbabwe, its potential to anchor DBTM development, and the knowledge gap on DBTM knowledge and how socioeconomic factors can be improved through it, using qualitative content analysis of several published empirical information on the subject.

According to Kuchartz (2019), qualitative content analysis is a research approach for subjectively clarifying the content of a text through a systematic grouping process of coding and detecting themes or common threads. Mayring (2019) confirms and adds that qualitative content analysis refers to any qualitative data reduction and sense-making activity that takes a large volume of qualitative material and strives to identify core consistencies and meanings. When there is a lack of current theory or study literature on a subject, this design is frequently acceptable. According to Lindgren et al. (2020), content analysis exposes essential patterns, themes, and categories in social reality. In contrast to replicating social encounters or gathering survey responses, the technique studies social phenomena in a non-invasive manner. The study’s data was compiled from a review of journals, books, papers, and other relevant sources (Diaspora, tourism marketing, and socioeconomic issues). The researchers looked at an infinite amount of materials on the subject, with the majority of them coming from 2019 to 2021. Classical literature was also examined, with a focus on the authenticity portion (Rosendo-Rios et al., 2022). As a unit of analysis, the researcher used themes. The following sections contain the results and explanation of the findings based on the defined unit of analysis (themes).

4. Results and discussion

4.1. Diaspora in relation to DBTM

Several explanatory variables have been identified by a number of diaspora scholars and theorists in relation to the use of the diaspora, including increasing mobility, economic dependence on migration (especially remittances), democratization, the desire to gain political support from citizens abroad, or a shift to neoliberal modes of government, according to the literature. (Brubaker, 2005; Cohen et al., 2014; Hung, 2022; Gevorkyan, 2021; Seraphin et al., 2021; Tojib et al., 2022). This clearly demonstrates that, while the diaspora has been employed for socioeconomic purposes for years, it has been underutilized economically as a tourism marketer in general. Nonetheless, tourism destinations miss out on the diaspora’s informative character by failing to capitalize on the knowledge, ideal frameworks, and experiences that the diaspora community, particularly those who study or work in industrialized countries, possesses (Borgohain & Ammari, 2022). However, tourism destinations must take advantage of this phenomenon by leveraging the diaspora for a percentage of tourism advantages that will support the socioeconomic development of the country of origin (King, 2022). This includes utilizing the diaspora as tourist marketers in order to increase tourism visitation.

The usage of a diaspora has traditionally been utilized as a tourist, a marketer, an ambassadorial sales representative, a network, and a remitter, but there is a dearth of comprehensive research on its prevalence, efficacy, and extent (Minto-Coy, 2019). However, the diaspora will be defined in the perspective of a tourism marketer for the purposes of this article. This is a point of view shared by Minto-Coy (2019), who claims that stakeholders’ involvement has given little attention to the value of this group, especially in emerging and developing contexts. This assumption necessitates additional research in order to better our understanding of diaspora-based tourist marketing and socioeconomic aspects. As a result, little is known about DBTM. The volume and revenue generated by international tourists visiting a country of origin as a result of DBTM is still untapped. In-depth systematic investigations are still needed to find and authenticate enhancing socioeconomic aspects through DBTM. Thus, the literature clearly demonstrates that much work remains to be done in terms of harnessing the diaspora for home country socioeconomic benefits before mainstream country of origin tourism marketing practices accept DBTM.

These research findings could pave the way for the development of a DBTM framework. Only a few research on diaspora and tourism have been conducted in a systematic manner (Dupre, 2019). This is why Minto-Coy (2019) claims that research has overlooked the full potential of harnessing the diaspora for socioeconomic advantages. This view can also be applied in favor of DBTM studies. This clearly supports the argument that, given the history and reality of a growing global diaspora population, the diaspora is emerging as a critical stakeholder in the growth of many emerging countries’ home countries and their ability to grow and develop in terms of being used for diaspora-based initiatives. Tourism marketing has remained undiscovered, but it is still important and noticeable (Mensah, 2022). In the larger, more established source markets, people are increasingly viewing themselves as travellers rather than tourists; therefore, researchers should pay more attention to DBTM. More recent studies have reported attempts to highlight the important role played by the diaspora in terms of tourism socioeconomic benefits to the home tourism destination by developing various diaspora harnessing strategies that improve the economy (Li et al., 2020; Seraphin et al., 2021). Traditional DBTM potential has largely remained unexplored over time, both in terms of DBTM potential and socioeconomic aspects development. The literature strongly suggests that the diaspora has continued to play an important part in the socioeconomic contributions of the home country throughout history. The term diaspora was first coined to describe the Jewish dispersion, but it is today used to describe a wide range of events and phenomena (Safran, 1991).

Diaspora groups and networking usually center on remittance and generosity to thriving firms (Mensah, 2022). Remittances and benevolences contributed 32.4% of global GDP from 2000 to 2019. As a result, it may be stated that the African diaspora continues to play an important role in the continent’s socioeconomic contributions, accounting for more than 72%. While many nations of origin recognize the value of diaspora engagement, they lack the capacity to develop and implement effective diaspora policies on a large scale (Otoo et al., 2021). In 2020, travel and tourism contributed 6.7% (percentage of GDP) to Zimbabwe’s GDP (World Travel and Tourism Council (World Travel, 2021a). There is a need to develop effective marketing tactics that would engage additional stakeholders, such as the diaspora, so that the country can strengthen its position in international markets and boost tourism (Nyoni, 2021). There is a recognition that the diaspora has untapped potential and may be important partners in economic revival through utilizing the diaspora to enhance tourism (Mucheri & Dzvimbo, 2020). Nonetheless, utilizing the diaspora to increase tourism traffic characteristics has remained a relatively unknown topic, particularly in Zimbabwe.

In Zimbabwe, a substantial number of individuals rely heavily on remittances received by relatives and friends in the diaspora. However, the scarcity of literature in the field of diaspora-based tourist marketing, as well as the lack of records and statistics, makes the popularity and use of DBTM even more perplexing. Despite the lack of statistics, previous research by Nyoni (2021) shows that harnessing the diaspora for Zimbabwe is widely used by both urban and rural communities. The scholar goes on to say that many diasporas are still committed to the development and transformation of their homeland. As a result, it may be claimed that the diaspora has contributed to and uplifted many poor communities in Zimbabwe through remittances and kindness. According to published evidence, many African diasporas retain connected to their homeland roots or feel connected to their personal ancestry (Freeman, 2022). However, despite the fact that diaspora engagement has gotten a lot of attention, particularly in post-independent Zimbabwe, very little research on DBTM has been done. Caribbean, China, Israel, South Korea, and India have all effectively tapped into their diasporas as a source of tourism innovation and economic development (Minto-Coy, 2019). The diaspora, which accounts for over 80% of visitors in the Caribbean, is the largest category of visitors. Carnivals and other cultural and sporting events draw the diaspora back, as well as visits from relatives and friends. However, the true scope and value of leveraging the diaspora for DBTM is largely unclear (Gevorkyan, 2021). India and China are already reaping the benefits of global recognition for their ancient medicines. As a result, the potential for diaspora tourist marketing to grow in general is considerable.

However, in the absence of such diaspora engagement data on DBTM, these issues are difficult to apply. The lack of data on DBTM analyses continues to obstruct full utilization of this branch of diaspora harnessing for socioeconomic benefits. Thus, while diaspora engagement for socioeconomic benefits has remained alive (Crisford, 2022), DBTM for socioeconomic benefits that improve tourism traffic has remained on the outskirts of government policies. The lack of proper understanding of DBTM is the primary cause for the failure to fully exploit the potential benefits of DBTM, specifically for the increase of tourism traffic for the Country of Origin (CoO). There is an obvious need for more research, according to the literature. One of the benefits of conducting a systematic evaluation of DBTM, as evidenced by the literature review, is that it leads to the growth of diaspora engagement. The systematic review of DBTM provides a useful route for Diaspora engagement research (Seraphin et al., 2021). The creation of DBTM would assist global diaspora communities and CoO, in general, particularly in poor countries where a slew of socioeconomic issues abound.

According to Li et al. (2020), the diaspora has been leveraged for tourist benefits by CoO, but there is still a need to fully investigate other ways the diaspora may be harnessed for socioeconomic benefits. As a result, more research in DBTM is certainly needed, as there is still a lot to learn. This is true due to the fact that just a few studies involving diaspora engagement in tourism have been conducted to validate the importance of diaspora engagement in tourism and to support their efficacy claims. As a result, there is still a scarcity of marketing information about DBTM, particularly for increasing tourism traffic. As a result, further DBTM research is needed to boost the CoO’s tourism traffic in general.

The diaspora can be used to benefit the CoO’s socioeconomic benefits, which can subsequently be used for DBTM to improve tourism traffic to the country of origin. In the face of traditional diaspora engagement’s promises of efficacy in terms of remittance and kindness, additional research is needed to analyze the DTBM expertise’s latent potential. More research is needed to fully understand the multiple benefits of diaspora engagement (Gevorkyan, 2021). There is a paucity of comprehensive assessments of social and economic literature on diaspora involvement, tourism marketing, and tourism traffic, necessitating further in-depth research in the field of DBTM. To allay any fears of diaspora exploitation, Crisford (2022) recognize the need to standardize the many methods of engaging the diaspora, notably in the field of marketing. As a result, knowledge about DBTM is currently limited, restricting its ability to benefit humanity. As a result of the literature review, it is clear that systematic research that fully analyze diaspora-based tourist marketing are needed, as well as statistics on the amount of the increase in tourism traffic. According to existing knowledge market literature, there is an unmet marketing opportunity in tapping the diaspora for DBTM. The nature of tourist traffic whose goal of trip is as a result of diaspora tourism marketing is poorly understood.

4.2. Conceptualisation of tourism marketing in DBTM

Authenticity, despite a difficult notion, is important in tourism marketing research since tourism marketing is made up of two terms: tourism and marketing. Tourism is a significant social phenomena that encompasses people’s movement from and to, as well as their brief stay in locations other than their customary residences (Adams, 2021). According to the literature review, marketing can be defined as a management process for recognizing, predicting, and profitably addressing consumer needs and wants (Kotler, 2021). The majority of research show that when tourism marketers advertise tourist good and services, they boost consumption, which leads to increased employment, increased cultural exchange, and increased tourism revenue and traffic at the tourist destination (Kotler, 2021; Roberts, 2022). In that sense, tourist marketing is a critical component of tourism in general, as it entails developing successful tourism strategies and communications tailored to target markets in order to produce tourism revenues (Turna, 2022). While tourism marketers include the diaspora when promoting tourist locations, they can be a source of light in the success story of the destination.

Literature also suggest that the main business of a tourist marketing is selling tourism products (Bowen, 2021; Ertaş et al., 2021). Tourism marketing is a relatively simple business compared to the riddles of national image: as long as the tourist location has enough marketing agents (for example, the diaspora), resources, and patience, it can be pretty certain of boosting tourism arrivals (Roberts, 2022). DBTM will be able to improve the image of the country of origin by persuading international tourists to make a purchase. People frequently lose their ideas about countries after visiting them: the country becomes a true tourist destination country for such persons at least (Mensah, 2022). This shows that knowledge of tourism marketing is quite limited when it comes to DBTM. Since the tourist business has such a significant impact on the economies of different countries throughout the world, tourism marketing is one of the most essential aspects of tourism study (Adams, 2021). While tourism marketing plays an important role in the success of tourism destinations (Adams, 2021; Bowen, 2021; Turna, 2022), there is little research on its role in diaspora-based tourist marketing. However, rising competition in tourism marketing and a growing understanding that retaining effective tourism tactics (Turna, 2022) are crucial in developing diaspora-based tourist marketing and demonstrating how DBTM will increase tourism traffic.

Indeed, there is some evidence from other scholars to show that preference for a country and its people, politics, culture, and products tends to increase as a result of any experience persuasion of that country (Asim et al., 2022; Ertaş et al., 2021). In this case, DBTMDBTM. This factor is significant because people talk to other people about their country’s beauty and holiday experience if any (Asim et al., 2022). If enough people are persuaded to visit the country, especially if they are an influential demographic, then over time this can create a measurable improvement in the country’s overall international image (Mensah, 2022). Thus, it can be construed from Mensah’s (2022) argument that diaspora marketing can play a significant role in determining a destination performance. However, literature is full of cases of nations that have followed a similar path with considerable success such as the Caribbean, Haiti, Baltic region (that included most parts of northern European countries); very little if any exploitation of such a concept has been exercised in most developing countries, Zimbabwe being a case in point (Mucheri & Dzvimbo, 2020; Nyoni, 2021). DBTM, in addition to its primary purpose of encouraging visits, can play an important secondary role in helping visitors to form a compelling personal narrative about the country, which enhances their power as “viral agents” or informal advocates for the country of origin once the international tourist return home (Shen et al., 2020). The way in which the diaspora markets their country of origin to the international market is passed on by satisfied visitors to other prospects and eventually becomes a powerful agent for widespread social marketing effects.

4.3. Tourism traffic

The analysis of literature indicate that tourist traffic can be defined as the temporary migration of people outside the place of their permanent residence, resulting from socially conditioned needs with various motivations (Gao et al., 2021). Nepal (2022) note that tourist traffic can also be specified more broadly as general phenomena and the effects of spatial movement of people during tourist trips. In order to fulfil the tourist need, the tourist must move to a specific place, where the elements of tourism supply are located. Tourism demand measured by tourist traffic is therefore characterized by mobility and concentration in space. As a participant of tourist traffic, a tourist expects their needs related to the implementation of tourist trip to be met (Gao et al., 2021). Due to the diversity of needs reported by tourists, their satisfaction is possible through the cooperation of many sectors of the national economy (Nepal, 2022).

4.4. Diaspora categories

Literature indicates that there is consensus that the diaspora are not a homogenous group or community as it is influenced by their different origins, aims, interests, and experiences, among other things (Kleist, 2008, p. 130). The diaspora originate from different circumstances which earn them the different names (Cohen, 2008). On this basis, Cohen identified five types of diaspora: Victim diasporas (for example, the word was written in full classic diasporas forced into exile such as the Jewish, African, Armenian diasporas), Labour diasporas (for example, mass migration in search of work and economic opportunities such as the Indian and Turkish diasporas), Trade diasporas (for example, migrations seeking to open trade routes and links such as the Chinese and Lebanese diasporas), Imperial diasporas (for example, migration among those keen to serve and maintain empires such as the British and French diasporas), Cultural diaspora (for example, those who move through a process of chain migration such as the Caribbean diaspora). However, for the purpose of this study, literature will focus on profiling the following diaspora: student diaspora, economic diaspora, and diplomatic diaspora and how they can be used for DBTM that will improve tourism traffic to tourism destination.

4.5. Economic diasporas

Studies show that the 21st century has, as a result of inadequate economic openings in home countries predominantly in Africa, witnessed a great evacuation of people in pursuit of economic liberation (Otoo et al., 2021). This condition has witnessed the diaspora being underemployed and in some instances employed for better payment than what they would have grossed in their home country (Mucheri & Dzvimbo, 2020). In appreciation, an economic diaspora is then one who is very bold to explore economic openings beyond the borders with a perceived pull and push factor to this (Nyoni, 2021). Worldwide, it is estimated that the diaspora represents 175 million people (Minto-Coy, 2019), and of these 165 million are estimated to be economic diaspora. Usually, this group contributes to the economy and social development of its country of origin mainly through remittance and social philanthropy (Seraphin et al., 2021). Notably, the focus on economic diaspora has tended to be on remittance and benevolence; there is emerging recognition of their economic impact via entrepreneurship, innovation and in international business with implications for firms in the home country (Mensah, 2022) and in this case for DBTM that will improve tourism traffic. It is important to highlight at the outset that the economic diaspora has access to critical resources, networks, and knowledge not easily accessed in the country of origin (CoO), and as such, they will aid as important tourism agents of marketing drivers that will improve tourism traffic to the CoO. The prominent role of the economic diaspora in this instance will make them an important player of the interior society as they will go beyond their call of obligation by playing an active role in the economy of the CoO. This untapped role and actions of the economic diaspora should be used to inform diaspora policies and marketing strategies as they are functional to tourism’s socioeconomic areas that are perceived to be challenging and undeserving (Du Preez & Govender, 2020).

4.6. Diplomatic diaspora

A diplomat functioning in any country of accreditation is preferably viewed as operating from tourism destination country of origin as revealed in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, also to add on at birth, children of diplomats cannot obtain citizenship of that foreign country (Mucheri & Dzvimbo, 2020). Rephased, the fact that the physical location of a diplomat is outside the country of origin, where a sense of belonging and identity and culture is diverse and somewhat different from country of origin, thus implies a diplomat can also be regarded as a diaspora. This connection allows them to be able to engage potential international tourist to experience the tourism destination country of origin differently from other tourists since a diplomat is generally more supportive of local development and heritage conservation and thus can market a destination country of origin better (Adhikari, 2022). Supporting this motion, Dolea (2022) acknowledge that what is important is the creation of social cycles and how to fit in it at this stage that the diplomatic diaspora can then market a tourism destination country of origin to international tourist that is at the mission or within the community in the country of accreditation. However, integration may not be so smooth because of opinions around the nature of a diplomat’s job and their supposed role in information gathering (Adhikari, 2022). This will depend on the personality and social qualities of individual diplomats, one can be able to integrate and communicate with potential tourist in the country of accreditation (Dolea, 2022). By virtue of the job, a diplomatic diaspora is a good example of an agent of tourism marketing. The understanding acquired from different missions, cultures, environment, and countries equips a diplomatic diaspora to interact with potential tourist and market better their tourism home countries in every way possible. Diplomatic diaspora tends to be self-driven in their drive to contribute and play a part back home (Beyene, 2015). As such there is little or no motivation required to harness them and be used for DBTM that will improve tourism traffic.

4.7. Students diasporas

In Africa, specifically in Zimbabwe, there has been a recent growing trend of students selecting tertiary education in reliable institutions that are outside their countries (Mucheri & Dzvimbo, 2020). Thus, the students will become diaspora simply because they are residing outside the country. Most of the students fall in the category of third culture children who spent significant years of their developmental years outside their parents’ culture. However, some become student diaspora by virtue of their relocation to the diaspora as a result of their parents/ guardians being posted to work outside their country of origin, while others deliberately choose to study abroad regardless of their parents’ location (Gevorkyan, 2021). Once one is enrolled, student diasporas can easily adapt to the new syllabus, culture, language, and friends making in the country they are studying. If the integration and assimilation of the student is well managed, one will learn well and properly, while deriving maximum value by being in the diaspora. The government can harness the student diaspora for DBTM. Some governments such as the Turkey have done well in ensuring that they create and maintain good relations with the student diaspora for Turkey’s socioeconomic benefit (Adamson, 2019). It therefore rests upon the government to develop and package a narrative that informs and enthuse the later diaspora generations. It is fundamentally important that from the root effective engagement with the student diaspora is harnessed to create socioeconomic ties that will remain the major push factor for diaspora-based tourism that will improve tourism traffic.

4.8. Diaspora perceptions and authenticity

The analysis of literature indicates that the issue of diaspora perceptions has been well articulated in cultural studies but remains a grey area in DBTM. Perceptions shape attitudes, and according to Chaniotakis, Lymperopoulos, and Soureli (2010), attitudes influence purchase intentions hence important to this study. Perception is defined as the way people, select, organize, and interpret stimuli into a meaningful and coherent picture. Thus, from the above definition one can deduce that perception forms impressions about a product and therefore shapes the marketing persuasion process of DBTM. Thus, it can be interpreted that literature on how DBTM will be employed to improve tourism traffic still remains unknown. Studies have shown some of the views of the diaspora theme on issues to do with trust, confidence, commitment, integrity in order to effectively be engaged in diaspora activities (Challagalla, 2018; Minto-Coy, 2019; Seraphin et al., 2021). Mucheri and Dzvimbo (2020) supports the notion by highlighting that when harnessing the economic, diplomatic, and student diaspora, trust, confidence, and commitment are important. Although it is very true, it is of great importance to add to these perceptions that for the effective implementation of the diaspora-based marketing framework, there is need for the government to earn and build a relationship with the diaspora that will turn them into loyal tourism agents that will efficiently improve tourism traffic and level of integration of the diaspora. Challagalla (2018) also highlights that for any diaspora engagement to be successful, there is need for a close look at the degree of integration of the diaspora with people back home as this has implications toward their involvement in the tourism destination CoO. Once a diaspora is deep rooted and often visits back home, their involvement will tend to focus more on enhancing this relationship (Minto-Coy, 2019).

Seraphin et al. (2021) pointed out reason for migration is another theme issue surrounding the perceptions of a diaspora and how they could be harnessed for diaspora tourism. The argument is that the circumstances under which the diaspora left the country makes it easy or hard to engage them. The economic turmoil of the past decades has propelled the exodus of many. As a result of frustration, some may not wish to be engaged while some deeply seek to be engaged in redressing the challenge. Adding on diaspora’s attitude is another view of the diaspora when it comes to tourism marketing engagement (Bowen, 2021). Many countries and Tourism practitioners view diaspora only as remitters and benevolences rather than citizens who wish to be harnessed in other socioeconomic national dialogue. This in some cases has made the diaspora wonder on whether their interests, welfare, and other needs are considered. Lastly, transaction level deficiency of operative communication with the diaspora can delay commitment with the same. Policy changes, opportunities, and current affairs need to be conversed thoroughly for informed decision making. Lack of coordination of government policies on diaspora can also lead to ineffective harnessing (2020.

Findings from literature analysis indicates that the existence harnessing the diaspora for socioeconomic development in the CoO have long been documented. There is a gap in knowledge on whether the harnessing of the diaspora for DBTM will lead to an improvement in tourism traffic. However, undesirable socio-political impacts results in dissatisfaction with a tourism product.

It is unknown how foreign tourists, in the face of such uncertainties and a poor environment in most tourism developing countries, perceive the probability of negative side effects on tourist traffic as a result of bad publicity. In light of these concerns, research is needed to allay fears and shed light on the challenges that have been raised, as well as to learn from other successful places, such as Dominica and the Caribbean, where diaspora engagement has been documented and diaspora engagement in tourism development has been successfully implemented, as well as the billion dollar breakthrough in global diaspora economic contributions.

5. Conclusion

According to the findings of the content analysis of literature, harnessing the diaspora for the purpose of generating socioeconomic benefits for tourism destinations that boost visitor traffic is yet unknown ground. Much work continues to be done in the domain of DBTM, which has mostly stayed on the periphery of current study. The character of tourist traffic whose goal of trip is motivated by diaspora-based marketing is poorly understood. According to the literature, relatively little is known about DBTM. The contributions of the actors in the DBTM value chain are unknown, as are the demographic features of tourists who visit particularly for DBTM. The diaspora’s perspective of tourist marketing based on diaspora remains uncertain. Because there is a lack of comprehensive knowledge on DBTM, studies are needed to provide answers to the pending questions and knowledge gaps identified, as well as to map the way forward on how the diaspora can be successfully harnessed for DBTM to improve tourism traffic in Zimbabwe. There is a need to conduct research studies that make it easier to collect statistics in order to determine the size of the diaspora that can be involved in diaspora-based tourist marketing and boost tourism traffic in general. Other successful nations, such as Dominica and the Caribbean, have successfully exploited the diaspora for tourism destination socioeconomic benefits, as evidenced by the existence of diaspora academic literature on global success. The outcomes of this study will help to expand DBTM research and to educate diaspora policy in general. The research sets the stage for future research in diaspora-based tourist marketing. It will serve as a compass for studies on the grey areas that need to be clarified in order to expand the frontiers of knowledge in the field of DBTM.

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no direct funding for this research.

Notes on contributors

Rudo Zengeya

Rudo Zengeya is a Doctor of Philosophy student at Chinhoyi University of Technology, Zimbabwe. My research topic includes Diaspora-based tourism marketing, Tourism Marketing issues and socioeconomic factors. My DPhil thesis being prepared with the assistance of my two supervisors Professor Patrick Walter Mamimine and Dr Molline Chiedza Mwando is about creating a diaspora-based tourism marketing (DBTM) framework by harnessing the diaspora to improve tourism traffic factors. The originality of the thesis is the evaluation of the potential of harnessing the diaspora as tourism marketers to improve tourism traffic factors to a tourism destination. Noteworthy is that the significance of DBTM in galvanizing socioeconomic factors to a destination may never be appreciated unless its potential and benefits are clearly understood and unpacked. Therefore, this paper will stir research on diaspora-based tourism marketing.