Impact case study database

UoB’s research has addressed the urgent needs for more effective sustainable tourism development interventions in Africa and Europe. The research has resulted in improved benefits for local communities and better industry performance by devising responses to disease-induced crisis, shaping International Development Organisations’ (IDOs) sustainable tourism initiatives, changing tourism sector narratives, transforming tourism policy, developing workforce capacity, engaging low-income communities and advancing sustainable tourism practices in the private and third sectors. Through micro and macro scale interventions using P2P and RSA at local, national and continental level across Africa and Europe, research has led to more stable, higher-yielding, responsible and sustainable forms of tourism.

4.1 Devising policy and industry responses to disease-induced crisis

UoB’s research contributed to decision-making, partnerships and interventions in response to crisis by IDOs, National Governments, Tourism Boards, Regional Organisations, and private and third sector operators. As a direct result of Novelli and Jones’ 2014-2016 research on the Ebola-induced tourism crisis, the Gambia Ministry of Tourism and Culture established new crisis management procedures and a crisis fund and the Gambia Chamber of Commerce introduced novel crisis management procedures and communication strategies employing internet and social media platforms [Source 5.1]. In March 2020, Novelli was invited by the CEO of the Ghana Tourism Authority to co-create an action-oriented task force on COVID-19, which became the Building Bridges for Sustainable Tourism in Africa (BBSTA) initiative. BBSTA advocates for proactive collaborations to address the COVID-19-induced tourism crisis at continental level. It led to an unprecedented collaboration between 40 key private tourism stakeholders and 30 CEOs of African Tourism Authorities, resulting in the identification of an agreed COVID-19 recovery agenda based on 4 specific priorities: Digitization; Regional collaboration; Research & Training; Advocacy and PR [5.2, 5.3]. Emerging from this, Novelli’s research informed the first ever African Tourism Authorities/Board CEO Forum held on the 7^th June 2020 and the subsequent UNWTO Brand Africa virtual forum establishing a path towards tourism recovery based on Positive stories from the African continent and aimed at furthering UNWTO interventions at continental level [5.2]. BBSTA actions based on Novelli’s research led to the establishment and delivery of the Responding to COVID-19 - SME Stabilisation and Acceleration programme of research and capacity building in Kenya by Jones and Novelli, in collaboration with the Sustainable Travel and Tourism Agenda (STTA), between May and September 2020. The programme provided capacity building training for 177 SME members of the Tour Operators Society of Kenya (TOSK) on market access, crisis communication, crisis responses, and techniques for resilience building. As a result, Kenyan SMEs are now able to access economic stimulus packages, TOSK received full registration status as an industry membership association from the State Department for Tourism in Kenya (June 2020) and was invited to contribute to the national taskforce on COVID-19 protocols [5.2; 5.3, 5.4].

4.2 Shaping tourism narratives and policy at global, national and local levels

Novelli’s P2P approach has shifted wider tourism sector narratives internationally towards achieving UN Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development and related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with impactful interventions at global, national and local levels. In 2016, the transformative value of the P2P approach, and its ability to improve socio-economic benefits for host communities were acknowledged as tourism best practice for SDG4: Education by the UNWTO in their report on The Power of Transformative Tourism [5.5]. Following from this, in 2017, Tourism Watch, which is a policy desk at NGO Bread for the World, invited Novelli as sole academic expert to co-construct the Berlin Declaration on Transforming Tourism with representatives from 30 civil society organisations from 19 countries. The declaration, available in 6 languages and endorsed by 60 global stakeholders, advocates a narrative for a fairer global tourism sector and ‘ actions from the international community to transform tourism’ [5.6].

UoB’s research also contributed to IDO and government policy implementation and decision-making in Africa and Europe. In 2015, the World Bank and Gambia Ministry of Finance commissioned Novelli to complete an evaluation study of the World Bank’s USD3,000,000 investment to increase tourism competitiveness and productivity in Gambia. This study informed the World Bank’s institutional project monitoring and evaluation phase, contributing to the successful completion of their interventions in Gambia [5.7]. Similarly, in Namibia, Novelli led on the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) /Abt Associates evaluation study (2019), shaping the MCC project evaluation phase, contributing critical new insights into the impact of their intervention and providing Namibian tourism sector’s stakeholders with guidance on how to increase the success of future IDOs’ intervention [5.9]. In Europe, Travel Foundation funded research undertaken by Pantelidis and Jones in 2014 has informed the development of new industry policies, strategies and practices encouraging increased visitor spend outside all-inclusive hotels in Paphos (Cyprus), addressing the negative financial impacts of all-inclusive hotels on local business. The study helped over 50% of all-inclusive hotels reshape their customers’ communication strategies and their employees’ training, by increasing knowledge about specific destination offerings [5.10, 5.11]. In 2019, Novelli contributed to the study commissioned by the European Parliament (EP) - Transport and Tourism Committee on the impact of overtourism in the EU, which informed the EP Motion and Adopted Resolutions [points D, 20 and 31 Motion and points C, 38, 40 of Adopted Resolution 5.12]. Arising from this EP study, in 2019 Novelli was appointed by Airbnb to lead on Airbnb research aimed at identifying community-informed best practices to shape the first Airbnb UK national policy for registration of short-let rental (SLR) properties. Novelli advised on the development of an inclusive and accessible data collection process, implemented in collaboration with research partner BritainThinks, which included six roundtables across the UK, 18 interviews and an online survey. The research informed an Airbnb policy paper on SLR market regulation with recommendations to the UK Government which will be launched on the 14^th June 2021 [5.13].

4.3 Building African destination capacity, improving workforce skills and local livelihoods

Over a seven-year period, Novelli’s commissioned research underpinned investment and workforce skills capacity-building in Namibia, Gambia and Ghana. In 2013, the Gambian Tourism and Hospitality Institute (GTHI) was inaugurated following Novelli’s World Bank commissioned research into the strategic planning of vocational education and workforce development. Since November 2013, Certificate, Diploma and Advanced Diploma level courses, delivered in line with Novelli’s recommendations, have been provided by the GTHI, with 2,711 students graduating to date. The initial GTHI target to train an average of 200 school leavers per year has been exceeded on average by 187 graduates per year, increasing the level of professionally trained workforce and employability in the sector [5.8]. Furthermore, The Gambia’s 2015 - 2020 Tourism Culture and Hospitality Strategy cites Novelli’s 2012 train-the-trainers programme and report as a resource to be used by The Gambia Tourism Board as a Service Quality and Service Standards Manual [5.1, 5.14]. The implementation of Novelli’s recommendations has led to improved service and productivity across hospitality establishments, with the Gambia Hotel Association providing regular capacity building training and on-the job follow-up training within 150 hotels [5.1]. Between 2014-2015, a new train-the-trainer scheme on service standards was rolled out nationwide by the Namibia Tourism Board utilising materials produced by UoB’s researchers, providing training to over 500 tourism stakeholders and leading to improved service standards across Namibia and the establishment of a new tour guides’ national training qualification [5.3, 5.9]. In 2018, the World Bank commissioned Novelli to produce research to improve Ghana’s national tourism and hospitality vocational skills’ training systems. Novelli’s research and strategic recommendations influenced the World Bank’s decision to allocate USD11,000,000 to the Ghana Ministry of Tourism Arts and Culture. Using these funds, a National Training Policy was delivered and approved by Cabinet in March 2020 and a public procurement process for the establishment of a new Tourism and Hospitality National Training Institute was launched [5.2, 5.7].

4.4 Advancing sustainable tourism practices and engaging low-income communities in Africa

By 2020, in Gambia, 60 local community members (10 participants each year, over a 6-year period) have benefited from Novelli’s P2P Capacity Building Initiative working with the Sandele Foundation. Through product development training, community members acquired new knowledge, skills and values associated with sustainable tourism business planning, conservation and community development, leading to the establishment of 16 micro-initiatives and entrepreneurial start-ups by members of low-income communities [5.15, 5.16]. A key outcome of the P2P was the establishment of the first ever community-based turtle conservation project in the country - ‘Turtle SOS The Gambia’, to respond to devastating turtle poaching activities. The project resulted in direct paid employment to 7 conservationists (of which 2 former poachers turned conservationists) and engaged between 10 and 30 regular local volunteers [5.15]. Turtle SOS has delivered educational programmes in 7 schools in 5 low-income coastal communities, reaching approximately 5,000 3-14 year old children and their families, engaging the wider community through film showings and presentations. In November 2015, Novelli and Jones contributed to the strategic and practical development of the new Turtle Conservation and Interpretation Centre at Sandele, offering a unique small scale, but high-yield tourism attraction in the locality, with an average of 200 visitors per year [5.15, 5.16]. Since 2018, Novelli and Jones have implemented the P2P approach in Ghana, through a collaboration with globally-renowned artist Serge Clottey, La360 community-based arts festival team and a local youth group. This P2P intervention improved community living standards in the low-income coastal neighbourhood of La (Labadi) in Accra. It stimulated change in community members’ attitudes from passive bystanders witnessing the degradation of their urban and ocean environments, to active custodians of these environments. Through UoB led capacity-building workshops 450 community members were incentivised to engage in beach and neighbourhood clean-up exercises, leading to changes in community understandings of the need for environmental sanitation and waste management. They also gained new understandings of how members can benefit from host-guest encounters. The establishment of a La-Lab as an incubator for 20 innovative and sustainable tourism enterprises was agreed with local stakeholders, prior to the COVID-19’s global lockdown [5.2; 5.3]. In 2018, in recognition of her work on sustainable tourism in 20 African destinations, Novelli received the Africa Tourism Leadership Special Award for Contribution and Impact to Sustainable Tourism development in Africa [5.3].