Mentoring Tourism Microentrepreneurship

Course Description:

In this course students will learn how to mentor tourism microentrepreneurs so as to a) assist them in achieving their goals, and b) leverage their integration in the tourism system to fuel destination equity and competitiveness. The course is grounded in scholarly knowledge and practical experience mentoring tourism microentrepreneurs in partnership with civic organizations, destination management organizations, and private tourism companies. Students will be encouraged to utilize and share their professional expertise in the public or private sector, and their familiarity and intrinsic interest in their home region or another familiar destination.

Learning Objectives:

• Evaluate ​the degree to which microentrepreneurs are symbiotically integrated into a destination’s tourism system and are shaping its competitiveness.
• Apply​ participatory action research methods to mentor microentrepreneurs on how to achieve their goals and on how to make their destinations more competitive and equitable.
• Explain​ the motivations, common needs, preferred networking processes, and self-defined success of tourism microentrepreneurs.
• Use​ web-based applications to amplify the voice of underserved microentrepreneurs and to connect them with markets and support organizations.
• Identify​ approaches for microentrepreneurs to develop win/win partnerships with private companies and civic organizations.
• Analyse​ the ways in which local governments engage with tourism businesses (e.g., marketing, financial support) in an attempt to be a competitive destination and fuel economic growth.

Reflection:

The course detailed how important the role microentrepreneurs can play in enriching a tourism destination, and in assuring that the economic force of tourism can be harnessed by host communities to fuel equitable and sustainable prosperity. The course highlighted how microentrepreneurs in tourism can be marginalized within tourist industry. Assignments demonstrated how mentors can assist microentrepreneurs access markets, methods of reaching new customers, and increasing revenue streams for microentrepreneurs in tourism.