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As the recipient of the prestigious Leverhulme International Fellowship (IF), Professor Marina Novelli has been delivering a programme of research and knowledge exchange on accelerating youth entrepreneurship in tourism for sustainable development, with impact far beyond the immediate scope of the project.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)

This research relates to the following SDGs

 

  

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Research summary

Professor Marina Novelli (FASC) is a globally recognised authority in the field of tourism policy, planning and development. She joined Nottingham University Business School’s Marketing Department in October 2023 as a Professor of Marketing and Tourism. She is Director of the Sustainable Travel and Tourism Research Centre (STTAR Centre).

The Leverhulme International Fellowship (IF) enabled Professor Novelli to benefit from a concentrated period of collaborations with two African institutions – 'Sustainable Travel and Tourism Africa and Strathmore University' and Sustainable Travel and Tourism, Kenya and Tshwane University of Technology', South Africa and explore creative ways to address youth unemployment/under-employment challenges in Kenya and South Africa.

Here, tourism has been strategically fronted as a key economic pillar with high potential for facilitating decent employment, socio-economic growth, and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, tourism jobs for youth remain majorly insecure, low-skilled and poorly paid, with low-levels of innovation and very few youths’ entrepreneurial opportunities.

Findings from the British Council-Innovation for African Universities’ research project - ‘Accelerating Youth Entrepreneurship and Innovation for Sustainable Tourism in Africa’ (also led by Professor Novelli between 2021 and 2023) - concluded that without meaningful participation of the high skilled youth in tourism development, Africa will be further challenged in solving the youth unemployment situation. Building upon these findings, this Leverhulme IF funded research project enabled the creation a new youth-centred tourism ecosystem and changemaking practices for sustainable development in Kenya and South Africa. The outreach activities associated with this project have been far reaching in terms of research and training capacity development of the partnering institutions. 

Through this Leverhulme International Fellowship Professor Novelli attempted to address two major lessons from the British Council project:

1. Collaborations between academic and industry players are one of the most valuable innovative approaches to skill the next generations of entrepreneurs
2. Developing interventions which are needs-based and supported through innovative knowledge exchanges, which are digitally supported and climate sensitive, are timely

Objectives

The IF's objectives were to:

• develop innovations in teaching through the creation of an ‘Inspire African Youth Entrepreneurship in Tourism for Sustainable Development’ programme that complements the work of STTA (Kenya), informs the curricula of organisations like TUT and other African HE institutions and the creation of Education of Sustainable Tourism Development guidelines for stakeholders beyond the African Continents.
• develop a new line of research on ‘Youth Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Tourism Development in Africa’, drawing upon the interdisciplinary expertise of those involved in the collaboration
• prepare one collaborative grant application aimed at expanding research and knowledge exchange on ‘Youth Entrepreneurship through Open Innovation for Sustainable Tourism in Africa’
• exchange methodological practices utilised in teaching and research and learn about local ground- breaking techniques and/or practices

This international fellowship will drew upon two tried and tested methodologies: the Rapid Situation Analysis (RSA) and the pro-activist Peer-to-Peer capacity-building. These are based on co-constructed and impact-oriented approaches, whereby tourism organisations and local communities’ representatives will be involved in identifying innovative and more equitable social, economic and environmental capacity-building interventions. This will lead to more sustainable forms of youth entrepreneurship in tourism.

The RSA has been widely used to produce new knowledge on innovative ways in which tourism can contribute to local development (Koutra, 2010; Novelli, 2016). Based on phenomenological principles, the RSA and the Peer-to- Peer (Novelli and Burns, 2010) approaches include workshops, in-depth interviews, collaborative community mapping and a range of public consultations aimed at investigating stakeholder perceptions and practice in local tourism systems. Professor Novelli intends to blend them with other local ground-breaking techniques and/or practices to facilitate a better understanding of how to tailor an ‘Inspire African Youth Entrepreneurship in Tourism for Sustainable Development’, which is locally informed and effectively delivered.

 

Research findings:

This research generated new critical understandings of the situation on the ground and provided the space to co-construct ways in which identified challenges and lessons can be creatively addressed, particularly now that tourism is in full post-COVID19 recovery mode. For example:

• at Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), staff received capacity building training and as a result they were empowered to better understand and embed sustainability principles and practices into the Department of Management’s curricula, improving the quality and scope of their performance in line with SDGs priorities identified by the wider university
• at Sustainable Travel and Tourism Africa (STTA), the 'STTA Young Change Maker (YCM) Programme' was restructured leading to scaling up of their reach and impact. The STTA-YCM Programme now involves 9 active partner Universities and as many as eight other universities from across Kenya and delivers training to over 7000 young learners

Professor Novelli’s Leverhulme IF facilitated the consolidation of existing partnerships with both TUT and STTA teams, leading to the scaling up of a mutually beneficial impact led research agenda and the reach and scope of their focus, operation and international engagements. It also led to new opportunities such as the invitation of Professor Novelli to the G20 Women Empowerment and Financial Inclusion event in South Africa (Sun City, 6-7 May 2025) and a number of other engagements in Kenya. 

By 2050, Africa's youth population will hit 830 million. That's more than double what it is today and it will become potentially the largest workforce in the world.

This isn't just about statistics, it's about potential waiting to be unlocked through: infrastructures (soft and hard) that supports growth, educational systems that adequately prepare the next generation of leaders, job markets that can absorb talents and technology that connects and empowers.

Are we preparing these young minds for the challenges and opportunities ahead? This is why at the STTAR Centre we remain committed to continue on this line of work.

 

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