Employment in the tourism industry: A pathway to entrepreneurship for Ugandan youth
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Date
2016
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Publisher
Routledge
Abstract
The world tourism industry has grown steadily as a result of the rising incomes
of the global middle class and increased awareness of new travel destinations.
Given that it is a services-based
industry, tourism comprises labour-intensive
growth sectors that employ a considerable (and growing) number of people.
Accordingly, the industry also holds potential for young people in terms of providing
entrepreneurial opportunities and/or employment. The sustained growth
of the tourism industry has also meant that an increasing number of travellers
now visit destinations in Africa, including Uganda. The country’s numerous
tourist attractions have enabled it to benefit from the increased number of foreign
tourists – which reached close to one million in 2010 (World Travel and Tourism
Council, 2011) – as well as from the rapidly growing local demand for services.
The industry comprises three main subsectors: hotels and lodging, tour operators,
and suppliers of associated goods and services. While the activities of all
three subsectors are closely intertwined, this chapter focuses on hotels and
lodging and their suppliers.
Although the hotels and lodging subsector offers a number of entrepreneurial
opportunities, youth entrepreneurship is limited as most young people are
unlikely to have the requisite financial resources to start even a small bed-andbreakfast.
Accordingly, the most active participants in the hotels and lodging
subsector in Uganda are foreign firms and local investors with substantial means.
Still, young entrepreneurs have a wide range of options available in terms of
supplying goods and services such as food, beverages, equipment, information
and communication technology (ICT), and janitorial and transport services. This
chapter seeks to contribute to the literature on youth employment and entrepreneurship
by focusing on the nature of youth participation in the tourism industry
in Kampala, Uganda’s capital city. In this study we seek to gain an insight into
how and why young people engage in the sector and their aspirations for the
future.
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Keywords
Tourism industry, Entrepreneurship, Ugandan youth
Citation
Dawa, S., & Jeppesen, S. (2016). Employment in the tourism industry: A pathway to entrepreneurship for Ugandan youth. In Young Entrepreneurs in Sub-Saharan Africa (pp. 206-216). Routledge.