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The social capital of ethnic minority souvenir vendors: promises and pitfalls

Trupp, Alexander (2017) The social capital of ethnic minority souvenir vendors: promises and pitfalls. [Conference Proceedings]

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Abstract

Tourists in Thailand’s urban and beach-sided tourist hotspots notice the presence of colourful and predominantly female vendors offering self-made and mass-manufactured products. A high percentage of these vendors are members of the highland ethnic minority group of Akha who over the last decades have migrated temporary or permanently into Thailand’s urban and beach sided tourist areas. Based on ten months of qualitative research, this paper examines how economic action of souvenir street vendors in Thailand’s urban areas is embedded in social relations and experiences. I argue that social resources – conceptualized as social capital – constitute a central asset and challenge for ethnic minority souvenir vendors who work at the very bottom of a business niche in the informal tourism sector.

Item Type: Conference Proceedings
Uncontrolled Keywords: Social capital; street vendors; Thailand; ethnic tourism
Subjects: G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > G Geography (General)
G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GV Recreation Leisure
H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Divisions: Faculty of Business and Economics (FBE) > School of Tourism and Hospitality Management
Depositing User: Alexander Trupp
Date Deposited: 29 Mar 2017 02:52
Last Modified: 29 Mar 2017 02:53
URI: http://repository.usp.ac.fj/id/eprint/9690
UNSPECIFIED

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