Abstract:
Tourism and development are important aspects of small island societies. Tourism, it is believed, could be the economic savoir of struggling economies. Tourism has been promoted to international travellers by many Pacific Islands for its potential for greater profits than the local traditional economic bases. Perhaps through tourist growth the socio-economic wellbeing of citizens can receive greater assurance. But emerging island tourism destinations face challenges about how to achieve this development strategy. Must they adapt their local tourism services to correspond with the mainstream tourism representations of island destinations? The case study for this thesis is Samoa. The souvenir shell trade is a modest but ubiquitous arena of local entrepreneurism. An investigation of this area of souvenir transactions in Samoa yields a rich description of diverse local economies and how these link to the evolving social, economic and cultural landscapes of the society. In particular, there is exposure of the importance of diaspora communities, domestic tourists and the many local tourism players that keep the Samoan tourism economy moving and growing. These insights and descriptions were achieved through taking a qualitative approach to gathering primary data, against a background provided by the available quantitative or official data. The ethnographic fieldwork enriched my findings, as local people told me their own stories about the shell trade and their role in it. They revealed local participation in diverse economies, taking place alongside particular styles of tourism representations.
