Hubert Job/ Michael Lutzenberger
The relevance of package tourists for informal sector micro-enterprises
A case study from The Gambia
Pages 191 – 207

Abstract: Against the background of the economic effects of tourism in developing countries and the positive effects that informal sector micro-enterprises (ISME) can have on alleviating poverty, this paper discusses the situation of mass package tourism destinations based on a case study from The Gambia. This explorative study discusses the position of ISME from two perspectives: the access to the market with the development and spatial distribution of ISME in the context of the life-cycle of tourism resorts and on the other side focuses on the tourists themselves and their demands, decision-making and behavior, as well as the factors that influence them. Results suggest that there is a market for ISME at mass tourism destinations alongside the formal sector. A survey of the existing situation and indications from interviews with tourists suggest the need for a discussion of an additional phase in the model of the spatial distribution of the informal and formal sectors in seaside resorts, based on Vorlaufers’s concept of the life-cycle of tourism resorts. Keywords: developing countries, informal sector micro-enterprises (ISME), life-cycle of tourism resorts, The Gambia


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