Journal Articles
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/7915
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Item Regenerating tourism and regenerating people: how tourism is achieving justice for Indigenous youths(Taylor and Francis Group, 2025-09-18) Scheyvens R; Kaire-Gataulu T; Coghlan AIn 2023 a novel Indigenous tourism venture was launched. This initiative, Native Nations–Tracing Indigenous Footsteps, offers a culturally immersive overseas exchange programme for Indigenous youths. It seeks to build solidarity, uplift youths, offer emancipatory tourism experiences, heal injustice, and reconnect them to sources of their strength and identity. As such, it offers an alternative approach and ethos to dominant approaches to tourism development. This paper examines the experience and outcomes of the first Native Nations exchange which involved a group of Aotearoa New Zealand Māori youths and a group of Australian Aboriginal youths. It frames this in the context of literature on justice tourism, Indigenous tourism, and regenerative tourism. Advocates of these approaches, variously, aim to restore people and environments through tourism experiences, to build solidarity between visitors and the visited, and to uphold Indigenous cultures and values. The research finds, firstly, that we need more focus on Indigenous people as tourists, and secondly, that regenerative tourism could have more transformative impacts if it explicitly incorporated tourism as justice, focusing attention on regenerating people who are often excluded from tourism’s benefits.Item Taking (anti-)‘woke’ seriously: the future of development cooperation and humanitarian aid(John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of ODI Global, 2025-08-21) Mawdsley E; Banks G; Sanyu C; Scheyvens R; Overton JPurpose This article examines the Trump administration’s ‘war on woke’ as a key narrative in dismantling USAID in early 2025, arguing that its cultural framing is politically significant alongside material and geopolitical impacts. Approach Drawing on Project 2025 and a Lonsdale and Black blog as examples, we explore how ‘woke’ is cast as a threat to US values and interests. Findings Cuts disproportionately harm women, children, and marginalised groups, while emboldening conservative actors globally. Anti-‘woke’ narratives gain traction from inequalities produced by neoliberal globalisation; liberal aid arguments have lost voter appeal. Reclaiming ‘woke’ in its original sense offers opportunities for justice-based development approaches. Value Foregrounding the cultural politics of aid, we call for structurally oriented, globally connected solidarity that engages alienated domestic constituencies and addresses racialised inequalities in North and South.Item Making tourism geographies: a tribute to Alan A. Lew’s lifework(Taylor and Francis Group, 2025-08-22) Gibson C; Gillen J; Ioannides D; Molz JG; Saarinen J; Scheyvens R; Mostafanezhad MThis collection of responses to Alan Lew’s Citation2024 American Association of Geographers (AAG) Annual Meeting Special Lecture in Honolulu, Hawai’i, Why Travel? (Lew, Citation2024), reflects his enduring influence on the field of tourism geographies and its growth as a vibrant community of practice. As the founding Editor-in-Chief of Tourism Geographies, Alan pioneered an inclusive, interdisciplinary vision for the field, shaping its trajectory for decades. Tracing his intellectual journey—rooted in a multicultural background and enriched by international experiences—Alan illuminates the deep interconnections between place, identity, and consciousness through the study of tourism. Authored by leading scholars in the field,Footnote1 the contributions in this collection respond to Why Travel? (Lew, Citation2024), celebrating both Alan’s legacy and the evolution of a paradigm—one in which tourism geography is expansive, critically self-reflexive, ethically grounded, and methodologically diverse. Rather than seeking a definitive answer, Alan’s enduring question—Why travel?—invites reflection on mobility, place, and purpose within an increasingly entangled world. This collection of responses stands as a tribute to Alan A. Lew—whose vision, generosity, and intellectual spirit continue to inspire new generations of scholars exploring the geographies of tourism.Item Challenges to Empowerment of Women through Value Chains: The Need to Move from Individual to Relational Empowerment(John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Institute of Social Studies, 2024-09-18) Nguyen P; Scheyvens R; Beban A; Gardyne SThis article examines the prevailing assumption by donors that connecting smallholder women to value chains will close the gender gap and empower women. Based on a case study of a programme that seeks to empower women through their integration into value chains in Vietnam, the article assesses women's empowerment across four dimensions: economic, psychological, social and political. The authors argue that women's engagement in value chains does not always financially benefit and empower women because patriarchal power structures within families, communities and businesses make it challenging for women to gain authority over production decisions in higher-value crops. Women in the study gained more autonomy over ‘women's crops’ which yielded small incomes, while men had control over production that was seen as ‘men's work’, and in large-scale and more lucrative production. Gendered power relations affect women's access to economic opportunities: in this context, development agencies should reconsider their approaches to women's economic empowerment by focusing on relational rather than individual empowerment. This means that women's economic empowerment programmes should involve both men and women, with targeted interventions ensuring women are empowered within the household and in their connections with the community, local authorities and businesses.Item Spiritual and environmental well-being: Factors supporting adaptation of Pacific peoples during pandemic times(Victoria University of Wellington and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd, 2024-08-01) Scheyvens R; Movono A; Auckram J; Faaiuaso LMost Western models of well-being focus only on social, mental, financial and physical well-being. Collecting data on how tourism-dependent communities in the South Pacific had adapted to the dramatic impacts of the pandemic, we became aware of the significance of spiritual and environmental dimensions of well-being. We also identified several Pacific well-being models that incorporate these dimensions. This article thus examines how COVID-19 lockdowns influenced the spiritual and environmental well-being of Pacific peoples living in tourism-dependent areas. It demonstrates that many people were able to adapt well despite dramatic changes in their financial situation and restrictions on their mobility. They often showed deep appreciation about having more time for religious practices and to care for others in their communities, and they enjoyed working more with nature, on the land or in the ocean, and looking after the environment. We conclude that if the tourism industry can rebuild in ways that support spiritual and environmental well-being, this could mean tourism will be appreciated more by resident communities as something which compliments – rather than competes with – their culture and way of life.Item International development and tourism geographies(Taylor and Francis Group, 2024-03-19) Scheyvens RThis commentary reviews the state of tourism and international development scholarship with special attention to publications from this journal, Tourism Geographies. Rather than assuming that tourism is the end game, or goal, as a body of researchers tourism geographers have often identified concerns about the exploitative impacts of tourism development on low income communities and countries, and negative environmental implications, especially when tourism is externally-driven. However, many of us have also asked, ‘can tourism contribute effectively to international development, and if so, how?’. The articles resulting from this line of research focus on a range of approaches, from sustainable tourism through to inclusive and regenerative tourism, which show that there are ways in which tourism can facilitate rather than impede development. In a neoliberal-dominant world facing significant challenges including climate change, structural inequalities and complex conflicts, it is more important than ever that we keep this question–can tourism contribute to development and if so, how? - central to our research. After providing a concise history of research in this field, this article will discuss the value of some recent trends in tourism scholarship, as well as identifying research gaps and pointing to future directions for research by tourism geographers.Item Pacific approaches to fundraising in the digital age: COVID-19, resilience and community relational economic practices(John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 2023-08-01) de la Torre Parra L; Movono A; Scheyvens R; Auckram SThe aim of this paper is to discuss how community relational economic practices in virtual spaces are effective in building resilience because they are borne of and sustained by familiar traditional Fijian values of collective work and social interdependence. The researchers adopted a pandemic-induced methodology, conducting online-based talanoa (fluid conversations between two or more people) with a number of people leading, or involved in, these initiatives. We also engaged with online community groups behind a number of initiatives. Examples are provided of online crowdfunding, livestreaming of concerts to solicit donations, and bartering facilitated by social media sites. To conclude, we stress the enduring nature of communal bonds and traditional systems which Pacific people readily adapt and translate into different forums and forms in the face of challenges such as the restrictions and financial hardships caused by COVID-19. The findings highlight that solesolevaki – a tradition of working together for a common cause – can also occur in the digital era: this demonstrates the deep connection of Fijian peoples and their sense of obligation to one another and to their culture, regardless of where they are in the world.Item Enhanced wellbeing of Pacific Island peoples during the pandemic? A qualitative analysis using the Advanced Frangipani Framework(Open Polytechnic of New Zealand, 2023-02-28) Scheyvens R; Movono A; Auckram JCOVID-19 isolated island states from international tourism, which is a primary provider of employment and driver of economic development for the Pacific region. Most governments lacked the finances to provide sustained assistance to tourism businesses and workers, thus one might assume that these people’s wellbeing was very low during the pandemic: in fact, this research found the opposite. Utilising the Frangipani Framework of Wellbeing, a survey was utilised to investigate 6 dimensions of wellbeing in tourism-dependent communities in Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu and Cook Islands during periods of border closures. Results found that while people faced financial struggles, their mental, social, physical, spiritual and environmental wellbeing had improved in many cases. Respondents indicated that they felt more connected to one another and their spiritual beliefs, were able to utilise communal resources to support their livelihoods, and that the pandemic provided a well-needed break for both themselves and the environment. This research demonstrates that people can successfully adapt and show resilience in the face of significant shocks and financial challenges if they have access to a range of cultural knowledge and systems, strong social connections and natural resources.Item Te Awa Tupua: Peace, justice and sustainability through Indigenous tourism(Taylor and Francis Group, 2021-04-16) Mika J; Scheyvens RTe Awa Tupua is an ancestor of the Māori people of Whanganui, and is also the Whanganui River, who in 2017 was formally recognised as a person. While legally conferring personhood upon an element of nature is relatively novel, it recognises a fundamental principle of indigeneity, that all things—human and nonhuman—are related. We explore intersections of peace, justice, and sustainability through Indigenous tourism in case studies of three Māori tourism enterprises on Te Awa Tupua (the Whanganui River). Our paper spotlights three findings. First, that treaty settlements elevate the status of Māori knowledge and contain elements of peace-making and economy-making as decolonising projects of self-determined development. Second, while indigeneity is foundational, we found that syncretism is evident in the sustainability of Māori tourism enterprises. Third, we uncovered a socioecological dissonance in attitudes towards commercial growth, with Māori tourism enterprises opting for slower and lower growth in favour of environmental and community wellbeing. We propose a model of Indigenous tourism called kaupapa tāpoi. We conclude by suggesting that reconciling differences in viewpoints on sustainability and growth between Māori and non-Māori tourism enterprises will require involvement of several institutional actors, starting with Te Awa Tupua.Item Adapting and reacting to Covid-19: Tourism and resilience in the South Pacific(Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, 2022-03-01) Movono A; Scheyvens RAs with small islands around the globe, many of the island states of the South Pacific are heavily dependent on tourism revenue. This article examines how tourism development and its disturbance by Covid-19 has influenced socio-cultural and economic changes among Indigenous communities in Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Samoa, Cook Islands, and Fiji. In particular, it demonstrates how the cessation of international tourism in established destination communities has created shifts in the way people live and their livelihood approaches which have moved towards a revival of customary practices. This study was led by Massey University researchers through partnerships with research associates (RAs) based in-country: an online survey and on-site interviews by RAs, along with Zoom interviews by the authors, provided primary data. The paper argues that although Covid-19 has had difficult financial consequences, it has also motivated innovative, culturallybased responses that allow people to adapt effectively to the loss in income associated with border closures. Such changes point to valuable lessons that could inform the management of more resilient tourism in the Pacific.