Economic and social upgrading in tourism global production networks: findings from Uganda

Michelle Christian and Francis Mwaura

Global Development Institute Working Paper Series from GDI, The University of Manchester

Abstract: Abstract Over the last decade, Uganda has re-emerged as a global tourism destination after years of instability. The growth of Uganda’s tourism global production network, however, is slow and is characterized by a few elite firms and highly controlled travel through tightly coordinated distribution channels. Capturing the Gains research asked how and if economic upgrading in the tourism global production network was happening in Uganda, and if social upgrading followed, by exploring one tourism location: Murchison Falls National Park. The findings suggest that tourism firms pursued vertical and horizontal economic upgrading strategies, but the social upgrading outcomes were mixed. Social upgrading for permanent workers followed economic upgrading for hotels and tourism service providers in Murchison Falls National Park, but not for community members outside the Park. Several aspects, such as the role of Uganda Wildlife Authority concessions, distribution access, and local labour market dynamics, are motivating factors in influencing upgrading dynamics.

Date: 2013
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr, nep-net and nep-tur
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.capturingthegains.org/pdf/ctg-wp-2013-19.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bwp:bwppap:ctg-2013-19

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Global Development Institute Working Paper Series from GDI, The University of Manchester Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Rowena Harding ().