Social Capital and Tourism Development: Insights from a Peripheral Destination

Abstract

There has been a growing emphasis on understanding the nexus between tourism and social capital from different contexts. This study aims to develop an in-depth understanding of the influence of social capital on tourism development from a peripheral destination context of the Sundarbans, Bangladesh. In this vein, a qualitative case study approach was adopted to gather empirical evidence primarily through qualitative semi-structured interviews with relevant stakeholders. Thematic analysis was adopted to interpret the gathered data. Findings of the study reflect that bridging and linking capitals play a critical role in community-involved tourism development in the Sundarbans. Furthermore, the study reveals that the absence of trust and misuse of power can threaten tourism development in the observed context. This study contributes to the broader literature of tourism-social capital nexus and extends our current understanding in reference to a developing country’s peripheral destinations.

Keywords: Social capital, peripheral destination, linking capital, the Sundarbans, Bangladesh

DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/13-22-09

Publication date: November 30^th 2021