The Political Economy of
Destination Promotion
African tourism website networks
Jeroen van Wijk
RSM-Erasmus University
(jwijk@rsm.nl)
Conference “Imagination, Media Power and Reputation”,
May 30-31st 2007, The Hague.
RSM-Erasmus University and Hotelschool The Hague.
The Political Economy of Destination Promotion
Main question
How can the tourism industry
support
economic development?
How can imagination, media power and reputation
promote tourism destinations in developing countries
and support economic development?
The Political Economy of Destination Promotion
Analysis of tourism industry actors
Two theoretical approaches
Global value chain analysis
> Vertical (international) networks
Business systems approach
> Horizontal (national) networks
The Political Economy of Destination Promotion
(1) Global value chain (GVC) analysis
Systemic approach, unit of analysis is:
* not a company, a country, or a region, but
* a network of companies embedded in internal and external
governance systems
Focus:
* Who adds value where in the chain?
* Who is leading actor in the chain?
Normative questions:
* How can chain revenues better be distributed over chain actors?
* How can the chain’s negative impact on the natural system
(‘earth’) be reduced?
The Political Economy of Destination Promotion
Global value chain
Consumer
Brand,
reputation
& media
Retail
Coordination
Manufac
turer
Trader
Supplier
Supplier
“Ingredient
branding”
The Political Economy of Destination Promotion
Global value chain
Consumer
Coordination
Brand,
reputation
& media
Tourist
Retail
Travel
agency
Manufac
turer
Tour
operator
Trader
Airline
Supplier
“Ingredient
branding”
Hotel
Destination
branding
Supplier
Guide
The Political Economy of Destination Promotion
Features tourism GVC
Consumption and production at same
time and location
Chain offers B2C contact opportunity
at every node
Tourists may shorten and coordinate
the chain the chain themselves
Destinations have opportunities in
branding, reputation, and media
Individual service suppliers
have those opportunities as
well
Tourist
Travel
agency
Tour
operator
Airline
Hotel
Destination
branding
Guide
The Political Economy of Destination Promotion
(2) African segmented business system
Networks of:
* African (indigenous) firms
* Government authorities and para-statals
* African minorities: Asians and Lebanese
* African whites
* Multinationals
* Division urban/rural business
The Political Economy of Destination Promotion
African business networks
Set of social, i.e. not purely market exchange, relationships
between companies (representatives)
They
* Share information about the transaction history of an agent
* Enforce contracts informally
* Interlink, they work on longer term or incomplete “contracts”.
* Reproduce themselves, high barriers to entry
* Often display ethnic or religious concentration, because
these ties offer socialization frameworks.
* May protect common interests
Segmentation is reinforced by the Digital Divide
The Political Economy of Destination Promotion
The political economy of destination promotion
The African model
Tourist
Travel
agency
Tour
operator
Airline
Park
Which are opportunities for “functional upgrading”
in the GVC, both for the destination and for individual
suppliers?
Who decides on the destination branding?
Which type of tourism is promoted? Which region?
And which supplier networks?
Res
taurant
Hotel
Chain
Local
hotel
Museum
Guide
Artist
Which are the opportunities for independent
marketing by small tourism firms?
The Political Economy of Destination Promotion
Our research
 Database of 468 tourism websites in Uganda, Rwanda,
and Mozambique
 Analyse network structure of website owners/registrants
The Political Economy of Destination Promotion
Tourism portals
Mozambique:
No portals with hyperlinks;
only 8 abroad (5 South Africa)
Rwanda:
5 portals (4 foreign, 1 unknown)
Uganda
7 portals (2 foreign)
The Political Economy of Destination Promotion
Website ownership
Mozambique
Others, 6
Unknown, 9
United Kingdom, 6
Mozambique, 7
USA, 17
South Africa, 90
N=135
Uganda
Rwanda
4%
5%
2%
2%
4%
6%
43%
9%
7%
Rw andan
Foreign
27%
N=245
Robert Brierley
Owns or is registrant for one website
Uganda Homepages Ltd.
Owns or is registrant for two websites
Owns or is registrant for three websites
N.A.
The New Vision
Uganda Online
Powebdesign
55%
N=53
36%
Unknow n
The Political Economy of Destination Promotion
Geographic location tourism service suppliers
Hyperlinks from 6 tourism portals in Uganda
Hyperlinks from 5 Ugandan Portals
100
100
90
90
80
80
Number of Hyperlinks
Number of Hyperlinks
Hyperlinks from TravelUganda.co.ug
70
60
50
40
30
20
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
10
0
0
Urban
Rural
N.A.
Urban
Rural
The Political Economy of Destination Promotion
Conclusions
1. The Internet offers opportunities for functional upgrading African tourism
destinations and individual firms.
2. Online destination promotion in 3 African countries is highly mediated
by foreigners.
3. Rural tourism stakeholders (CBT, budget accommodation, local artisans) benefit
most from foreign web owners in view of international marketing.
Effective strategy to circumvent the digital divide, but limited opportunities
and new dependency.
4. In Uganda, the native, urban tourism elites dominate tourism promotion, but
their network excludes rural suppliers.