The aim of this paper is to explore ways in which small tourism-based enterprises can offer a crisis-resilient pathway to sustainable development. Based on a mixed-embeddedness framework, this paper explores the multiple strategies which small enterprises in the silver souvenir industry of Kotagede (Yogyakarta, Indonesia) applied to cope with hardship during the Indonesian decade of crisis (1996-2006). This paper makes two contributions to current literature. The first contribution is conceptual arguing that an embeddedness approach sensitive to location-specific characteristics is a promising road towards a better understanding of small tourism enterprises as a crisisresilient development pathway. The second contribution is empirical offering longitudinal primary data on small firm performance against the background of fluctuations in the tourism industry. The data on which this paper builds stem from qualitative research conducted in Yogyakarta over a time span of 20 years. So doing, this paper also addresses the question of what potential small businesses offer to become agents of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Dahles, HeidiSusilowati Prabawa, TitiKoning, Juliette
Department of Business and Management
Year of publication: 2020Date of RADAR deposit: 2020-01-27