Informal Sector Business Tourism in the Global South: Evidence from Maseru, Lesotho

Domestic tourism is a neglected theme within tourism scholarship about the global South. This article addresses informal sector domestic tourism and is anchored upon the typology of tourism by Gladstone (2005) in which distinctions are drawn between international and domestic tourism and formal and informal sector tourism. The specific focus is informal sector business tourism, the nature of which challenges Western definitions of business tourism. The study reports findings from 52 interviews conducted with informal business tourists and accommodation providers in Maseru, Lesotho’s capital city. It is revealed the nature of low-income informal sector business tourism in the global South is radically different to that of conventional business tourism in terms of its organisation, characteristics of business tourists, and impacts. Arguably, informal sector business tourism is inherently pro-poor in its local impacts. Further comparative research work is required concerning these forms of ‘invisible’ tourists in African cities.