Search results

Kenyan Small and Medium-sized Tourism Enterprises (SMTEs) have been highly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, the tourism workforce had to face lockdowns and travel restrictions. In order to maintain business and operational continuity, the tourism workforce had to leverage on internet technologies and digitalisation as a means of enabling business continuity and providing value addition in their supply chains. This study sought to investigate on the extent to which digital skills aid in the tourism recovery process as well as improve the employees' well-being amid the COVID-19 pandemic among SMTEs in Nairobi City County.

The study took a qualitative approach based on constructivist grounded methodological approaches that emphasised specifically on the discovery of emerging trends and patterns in behaviour as well as development of new theory. The aim was to understand the tourism workforce recovery process using digital skills. The process involved data gathering from interview participants, qualitative emic and etic coding, analytical memo writing, theoretical sampling and reconstructing theory.

The findings of the study showed that due to losses attributed to the lockdowns and travel restrictions, prospective digital business models have been formulated for tourism stakeholders during the lockdown period. The changing technological landscape globally showed that digital skills will continue to be in great demand to meet the needs of the marketplace. Further, the use of social digital tools to build a mental health response to COVID-19 was instrumental to the recovery process. Technological resilience is a key factor that will play a role in reviving the sector.

A structured vision, roadmap and tourism strategy for mainstreaming digital skills and developing technological resilience within the tourism and hospitality sector is important towards coping and adaptive strategies for the SMTEs in the Kenyan context.

This study examines how digital skills are vital for tourism recovery especially for the SMTEs within the developing countries context.

Family events have unique significance on children as well as long-lasting impacts on them during their adulthood. A review of conceptual and theoretical literature on the subject was conducted to identify underlying trends and best practices in engaging children in the events industry. Societies are in transition from industrialised societies into risk societies and are increasingly becoming eco-socialised. Family events are integral towards developing inclusive and integrated societies and in realising Sustainable Development Goal 16 (SDG 16). Childhood is always eco-socialised, i.e. socially, economically and ecologically integrated with other forms of life. To the extent that childhood nostalgia forms the basis for future sustainable events and tourism choices. Family events are, therefore, increasingly becoming fundamental towards developing sustainability discourse. This viewpoint chapter provides conceptual and theoretical perspective on the roles and impacts of childhood research in sustainability discourse.

Children with disabilities are integral part of the society, but they often confront challenges due to barriers that people throw in their way. As a result, their participations in public events are often limited. Despite several treaties and conventions, children with disabilities still face discrimination that spreads into all spheres of life and not much is done to empower them to become resilient. According to the UNICEF Report (2020), children with disabilities are stigmatised and they are often isolated without having a possibility to participate in events and activities of the schools. While the government sector undoubtedly provides the basic support and facilities to them, the rest is often left in the hands of private sectors and NGOs. As a result, it is important to recognise and acknowledge NGO's effort in empowering children with disabilities and integrating them in the society. The African Network for Policy, Research and Advocacy for Sustainability (ANPRAS), an NGO affiliated with the African Union and headquartered in Mauritius never neglected this segment of the society while organising its flagship activities and annual event. Unlike Dowse, Powell, and Weed (2018) who argue that children are mostly undermined as community members, the current study seeks to demonstrate that children have a voice at ANPRAS and those with disability have a louder one. In fact, children with disabilities are gifted with talents and they may live a normal life if they are accepted by the society and if appropriate support is given. Methodologically, the chapter is built on secondary data from documents archived at ANPRAS office. The chapter closes with a concluding note on few implications related to the participation of children with disabilities in public events and ANPRAS activities.

This chapter seeks to examine the roles of child rights in fostering inclusive sustainable tourism development in Kenyan context. Specifically, it examines the importance of protective, participatory and provision rights of children in tourism sector in African context. The chapter adopts an interdisciplinary content analysis approach to determine themes and relationships between child rights and inclusive sustainable tourism development studies. Theoretical discussion on the contested ideologies on child rights brings out the varied multi-disciplinary perspectives on child rights that continue to create differences in views about the roles of children in tourism especially in African context. The chapter findings show that child right approach is required in the development of a more integrated, inclusive and sustainable tourism sector. Further, a framework for child centered integrated rights approach to Sustainable Tourism is proposed and the study examines the parameters toward advancing the child rights approach. In order to address the vulnerabilities, negative impacts and marginalization of children in tourism development and planning discourse in African context, there is need to design and build safeguards that reduce the exposure of children in African context by focusing on children-centric tourism development strategies and policies for the sector.

This chapter evaluates the impacts of and response measures to COVID-19 pandemic on the practice of tourism in the wildlife conservancy model in Kenya thus proposing response interventions to possible tourism crises in the future.

The study uses the qualitative exploratory experience design and collects data from purposely selected conservancies' leaders and other documented materials from two main wildlife conservancies association in Kenya.

The chapter presents findings on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on wildlife conservancy-based tourism, how conservancies responded to the pandemic and conservancy leadership perspectives on how to model future tourism and related activities in the conservancies based on the lessons they have learnt from the COVID-19 experience.

With the wildlife conservancy-based tourism model in Kenya being a relatively new phenomenon, the study provides important lessons for comparison with other such initiatives in other places in the event of tourism crises in the future.

This chapter argues that better preparedness to crises and uncertainties by various tourism types and models can help mitigate against adverse effects of similar uncertainties in the future. Consequently, the findings offer a glimpse of proposals and solutions to the wildlife conservancy-based tourism models that continue to be established in Kenya and in the region.