In search for responsible partnerships : Postcolonial analysis of tourism development in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Partnerships in tourism are known to be vital for destination development. Previous studies have shown the importance of including all the stakeholders in tourism development to make tourism more sustainable. Responsible business practices in tourism have been approached for instance, through voluntourism, pro-poor tourism, CSR in tourism, and through ethical tourism. Although several studies draw attention to the increase of responsible tourism practices and their importance for the destinations of the Global South, few scholars have emphasized how local entrepreneurs experience partnerships with the responsible companies from the Global North.

Therefore, the study aims at understanding how the increase of social entrepreneurship and CSR contributes to the development of responsible tourism partnerships between the Global South and Global North. The main research question is: How are the partnerships with responsible tour operators from the Global North influencing tourism development in the Global South? The empirical data was collected through ethnographic fieldwork and consists of semi-structured interviews with Sri Lankan tourism-managers and fieldnotes. Drawing upon postcolonial theory, the analysis focused on the issues of power, identity, language, representation, space and landscape, and was analysed by conducting a content analysis.

The findings indicate that to make the partnerships more equal it would be essential that companies from the Global North would allocate more resources for getting to know the partner and the local culture. Although tourism actors from the Global North play a crucial role in the economic development of Sri Lanka, the local tourism managers perceive the development of responsible tourism as their own responsibility. The local companies are hoping that their partners from the Global North would not be in control of tourism practices. Instead, these partners should appreciate the effort they put on certifications and responsible tourism practices. Furthermore, the study suggests that the local companies should question the importance of the Global North and pay attention in the new customer groups coming from the East.

In more general terms, if the Western will of help and spread responsible tourism development to the Global South was a way of control and power between the rich and the poor, the present study shows that this setting is changing. In search of more responsible forms of tourism practices, it is essential to approach the idea of responsibility in a holistic manner in which the international and national companies, as well as tourists are all responsible.