Samuel Adeyinka-Ojo

Slow food events as a high yield strategy for rural tourism destinations: the case of Bario, Sarawak.

Purpose – For years, the community in Bario has chosen to organize a slow food and cultural festival annually to draw tourists to Bario. The aim of this paper is to explore the staging of slow food events as a high‐yield strategy for rural tourism destinations and how they can be used to move a destination up the value chain in responsible rural tourism practices.Design/methodology/approach – The study adopted an interpretative approach. Participant observation and 15 in‐depth interviews with local and foreign tourists were conducted to elicit responses before, during and after the event. In addition, photography and videography were also employed.Findings – Findings revealed that the event was seen by many as a catalyst for the provision and development of infrastructural development. More importantly, 67 percent of the foreign tourists interviewed state that the price of goods and services at the event are reasonable and affordable, given the unique cultural experience during the festival in Bario. Thes...

Black on Brown: Research Paradoxes for Black Scholars Working in Ethnic Communities

A review of extant ethical literature and reflexivity in tourism research indicate there are limited studies. In most tourism literature, reflexivity and the role of researchers were understudied by the tourism scholars. The purpose of reflexivity is to provide an overview of how a research is conducted, the context in which the research is conducted, and the reliability of the actual data. In other words, the major reflexive thought is the role of the researcher in the data collection and data analysis to produce credible findings. Therefore, the aim of this chapter is to beam a searchlight and bring to the forefront the importance of reflexivity and researcher’s role in tourism-related research. This study is positioned to produce a reflective narrative of the experience of the first author during a case study fieldwork for over two consecutive years between July 2012 and September 2014. The main study context is Bario, a remote village in the Kelabit Highlands of Sarawak in east Malaysia. The principal investigator is a foreigner from sub-Saharan Africa, a nonnative language speaker, conducting research with the indigenous people of Malaysia in a remote destination. In this chapter, we address the issue of ethical dilemmas and highlight the intersections of race, gender, and other power positions on the research process.