Pluralising touristic production and consumption roles of residents? An SME perspective on proximity tourism

Abstract

ABSTRACTProduction and consumption roles in tourism are often attributed exclusively to different stakeholders. However, when touristic consumption and production of ‘home’ and ‘away’ blur, stakeholder roles and relationships become entangled in circuits of ‘re-consumption’, making exclusive role attributions problematic and restrictive. This qualitative study explored small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME)-resident relationships in the Dutch province of Friesland by scrutinising how tourism SMEs attribute touristic production and consumption roles to residents of this province. Roles were attributed along four themes: ‘Being a tourist’, ‘Discovery and unawareness’, ‘Life course experiences’ and ‘Ambassadorship’. Findings signify a potential ‘lock-in’ of roles: residents were seen as unattractive target group, given their everyday familiarity, but were simultaneously ascribed insufficient awareness of local attractiveness. Pluralised role attributions and interdependent role switching of both residents and entrepreneurs could overcome this impasse and facilitate ‘proximity tourism’. Potential ways for tourism SMEs to incorporate multiple roles of residents into business strategies are discussed.