Promoting the Tourist Experience Economy in LEDCs Through Authentic Fair-Trade Handicrafts: A Conceptual Framework

Introduction

The handicraft sector is an important segment of the tourism industry, particularly for communities in lesser economically developed countries (LEDCs). Broadly, tourism handicrafts can be described as souvenirs, tokens, or artisan works, representing a destination image or cultural heritage. Carvings, pottery, jewellery, paintings, weavings, metalwork, and other trinkets made of local resources are examples of local handicrafts often found in tourist markets. These pieces are sold to tourists to memorialise or commemorate a visit or experience at a destination (Hume, 2014). While the handicraft sector forms cultural and social elements that contribute to the attractiveness, experience, and memory of a tourist destination (Ritchie & Zins, 1978), it also contributes to the economic engine of a local community (Benson, 2014; Grobar, 2019; Kazungu, 2020; Mahoney, 2012b; Thirumaran, Dam, & Thirumaran, 2014).

This chapter focuses specifically on the handicraft sector within LEDCs where some estimate that the sector employs over 10% of the labour force (Grobar, 2019). Portions, if not all, of a handicraft supply chain could be considered part of the informal economy (Wondirad, Bogale, & Li, 2021). The informal economy represents economic activity that operates without legal recognition, where businesses may or may not have official registrations or licenses, and enumeration for individuals is less formalised or guaranteed (e.g., unpaid family labour, self-employment; Çakmak & Çenesiz, 2020; Portes & Schauffler, 1993; Slocum, Backman, & Robinson, 2011). Work within the informal economy, including the handicraft sector, is accessible to large portions of the population because the sector does not require extensive capital investment, drawing from locally available raw materials (e.g., wood, rock, nuts, grasses) and traditional artisan skills passed down within communities (Timothy & Wall, 1997; Truong, 2018; Truong, Liu, & Pham, 2020). Importantly, the creating and selling of handicrafts that are sold in tourism markets can provide direct access to income-generating opportunities for lesser-educated, lesser-resourced, or marginalised individuals (e.g., Britton, 1982; Carlisle, 2010; Timothy & Wall, 1997). That is, the handicraft sector creates an avenue for direct economic benefits via an income that may sustain their livelihoods (Grobar, 2019; Harris, 2014; Kazungu, 2020; Richard, 2007).

This study adopts the notion of the experience economy proposed by Pine and Gilmore (1999) and the related concept of creative tourism (Richard & Raymond, 2000; Tan, Kung & Luh, 2013) in the context of the handicraft sector, considering the synergistic opportunities of coupling these ideas with a fair-trade philosophy. The experience economy considers experiences as a form of economic offering that creates a competitive advantage and memorable experiences for tourists. As a subset of this, creative tourism represents a type of tourism where participants actively co-create their experience (Tan et al., 2013). In this vein, this chapter considers the increasing authentic, co-created experiences as a way for the handicraft sector to increase revenue expenditures to local communities. Moreover, this chapter discusses the role of a fair-trade philosophy to guide creative tourism in the handicraft sector so that economic benefits to local communities are maximised through the intentionality of supply chain management.