Tourism enterprises beyond the margins: the relational practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander SMEs in remote Australia

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis exploratory article commences by noting views from the literature that in areas like remote Australia, small to medium-sized tourism enterprises operated by Indigenous people struggle with geographical distance, lack of business capabilities and other factors. These perspectives provide basis to explore remote tourism enterprise use of relational practices that “configure” external resources to improve competitiveness. The article investigates relational practices carried out by small to medium-sized tourism enterprises operated by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to achieve stability in the challenging contexts of remote Australia. Findings identify that relational practices implemented by these enterprises provide multiple ways of creating shared value to boost competitiveness. These include: referrals, industry value chains, cooperation, marketing and meetings. Through a liberal and diversified approach to relational practices, these enterprises create value chain opportunities from within remote Australia, while they also establish and maintain connections with broader tourism systems. Implications from these findings are raised and directions for future inquiry are identified.