Paper long abstract:

This paper discusses some of the critical issues that surround proposals for tourism attractions and enterprise development under consideration by Pacific peoples resident in New Zealand. Unlike other projects initiated from a standpoint of redress, this work was premised upon belief that societal marginality can be a positive position from which to preserve cultural uniqueness and develop a competitive place for Pacific enterprise in the mainstream marketplace.

A team of Pacific and non-Pacific researchers from Waikato University's Management School completed ten studies over a five year period. Responsive throughout to Pacific community concerns, these explored a hermeneutic -like circle of aspirations, interest in and capacity for cultural tourism amongst nine Pacific ethnicities; balanced against local, regional and international consumption of Pacific cultural product. Analytical techniques were primarily social constructionist, aimed at creating common meanings between several cultures.

Issues identified include: dynamics of protecting ethnic uniqueness and traditional cultural producers from commercialisation, inter-generational diffusion of values and language, precedence of diasporan familial and cultural obligations, misconceptions about and distance from potential markets, and notions of future wealth based upon current relationships. Each community encounters its own challenges, yet place and culture-specific solutions were identified which reconcile preserve cultural embeddness and ensure business viability. This work has implications for understanding of the issues that enable and inhibit community enterprise development, for both western and non-western contexts.