Telling the Story of African-Americans in Hattiesburg, Mississippi: A Case Study of Socially Sustainable Tourism?

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Winter 2013

Department

Geography and Geology

School

Biological, Environmental, and Earth Sciences

Abstract

This case study from Hattiesburg, Mississippi focuses on recent efforts of the Hattiesburg Convention Commission to forge a partnership with city and state governments and African-American civic organizations with the goal of developing a local tourism industry that celebrates the racially diverse history of this community in the American South. Our research, conducted in 2012-13, relies on field observations and in-depth interviews with local stakeholders and is informed by recent literature on sustainable development and tourism. Our findings suggest this emergent tourism in Hattiesburg has achieved a degree of social sustainability--defined here interms of its success in forging multi-racial partnerships and creating narratives of places that partly mitigate their conflictive histories. Financial sustainability--which we define as profitability--has proven more elusive and will likely be achieved only over the long term.

Publication Title

Southeastern Geographer

Volume

53

Issue

4

First Page

428

Last Page

454

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