Empowerment at the bottom of the pyramid: Poverty reduction through rural tourism

Abstract

This is exploratory research, showing on one hand the potentialities of the tourism sector, especially with regards to leisure, and on the other, the evolution of the venture capital (VC) sector, which shows similar potentialities. This research proposes a pro-poor development strategy based on rural tourism by linking the potentialities of these two factors. The paper is an exploration of the issues associated with the VC industry, and the strategies to be developed based on secondary data from the industry. The findings imply that the historical development of tourism and the VC industry has witnessed ups and downs in line with global developments, and that there is potential for combining these two catalysts and coming up with a rejuvenating strategy for transforming the economy, in particular the rural community through promotion and development of rural tourism concepts, by capitalizing on the dynamics of VC. On a pragmatic level, the paper highlights the opportunities and threats pertinent to stakeholders. It focuses on the benefits of developing rural tourism activities using the dynamics of VC financing to attain sustainable development in the years to come. If the model proposed proves to be viable and successful, then the prevailing global problem of rural poverty may be reduced, benefitting the society at large, which in turn leads to empowerment at the bottom of the pyramid. The paper offers valuable inputs for venture capitalists, the tourism business community, NGOs, governments, and other stakeholder groups.